It is well established that tooth condition is a highly important exponent of overall human health. This study aims to determine the severity, prevalence and distribution of tooth wear during the developmental stages of children, living in medieval Poland based upon skeletal research material sourced from medieval polish cemeteries. The assessment included 237 primary, and 145 permanent human teeth, aged up to 7 years (infans I group) and between 8-15 years of age (infans II group). The degree of tooth wear was determined on the basis of a six-degree scale. In primary dentition, the prevalence of tooth wear ranged from 71.2 to 83.3 % in the infans I group and 83.3 to 92.3 % in the infans II group. The infans I group displayed the most advanced tooth wear of primary incisors, with dentine exposed on significant areas of masticating surfaces and presence of enamel islets, compared with least noticeable tooth wear to the molars. In the infans II group the most pronounced tooth wear with dentine fully exposed was observed in primary molars and canines. The degree of tooth wear found in primary dentition in molar and canine teeth group was more significant in the infans II group than in the infans I group ( p = 0.0001 and 0.0012). This study concluded that the examined primary teeth of medieval children showed significantly worn enamel and dentine. It also concluded that the degree of tooth wear of the primary canines and molars into the dentin, increased significantly with progression of the individual’s age, thus confirming it to be an inevitable process of normal physiological wear of teeth and evolving relationship within the masticatory system.

Department of Pediatric Dentistry University of Medical Sciences Poznań Poland

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