Approach to lifestyles in medieval Granada from the study of dental Pathology

Abstract

The study of dental pathology is key to accessing knowledge of the diet and lifestyles of past populations. The aim of this work is to study dental pathology frequencies in the medieval population of Granada, in order to increase knowledge about their diet. The presence of caries, loss of teeth during life and total lesions in a sample of 135 individuals aged between 20 and 60 years were recorded. Women had the worst oral health, not only because of factors related to pregnancy and motherhood but mainly because they consumed a more cariogenic diet. The results obtained, although with lower percentages than those of other medieval populations of the Iberian Peninsula, do not differ from those present at the European level, suggesting that cane sugar, cultivated in al-Andalus, was not used in the quantities in which it was consumed later.