Objective: Within the fields of anthropology and osteoarcheology, human teeth have long been studied to understand the diet, habits and diseases of past civilizations. However, no complete review has been published to collect and analyze the extensive available data on caries prevalence in European man (Homo sapiens) over time. Method: In this current study, the two databases, Scopus and Art, Design and Architecture Collection, were searched using predefined search terms. The literature was systematically reviewed and assessed by two of the authors. Results: The findings include a significant non-linear correlation with increasing caries prevalence in European populations from 9000 BC to 1850 AD, for both the number of carious teeth and the number of affected individuals. Conclusion: Despite the well-established collective belief that caries rates fluctuate between different locations and time and the general view that caries rates have increased from prehistoric times and onwards, this is, to our knowledge, the first time this relationship has been proven, based on published data.

The prevalence, distribution, and location of dental caries were studied in complete and partial human dentitions dating from the Viking Age dating (900–1050 AD) excavated in Kopparsvik on island of Gotland, Sweden. 18 individuals and a total of 370 teeth were examined, using a strong light source and dental probe. Carious lesions were found in a large number of the individuals, 14 out of 18. The percentage of teeth affected by caries (11,9%) corresponds well with studied skull materials from the same period. The surface most susceptible to caries was the occlusal surface, whereas only a few proximal lesions and one single carious root surface was found. The tooth most commonly affected by caries was the mandibular first molar. The tooth most commonly missing ante‐mortem was also the mandibular molar, and the tooth most commonly missing post mortem was the mandibular incisor. Other findings included apical infections, which were detected clinically in 3% of the teeth.

Background With the aim to study dental pathological lesions in an early Swedish modern population, with special reference to sex variances of dental caries, the prevalence and distribution of dental caries and tooth wear were determined in complete and partial human dentitions from an early modern-time city graveyard (1500–1620) excavated in Gamlestaden, Gothenburg, Sweden. Methods Partial and complete dentitions were examined through visual inspection and using a dental probe. Pathologies were studied, evaluated and presented by teeth and alveoli. Results The study population consisted of 308 individuals. A total of 4,951 teeth in adults and 1,660 teeth in children were examined. Caries prevalence in the studied population was 55% and the highest prevalence of caries was found among the adults, where 68% of the individuals had at least one carious lesion. Caries experience (DMT > 0) in the entire population was 60%, and among adults caries experience was 76%. Women had significantly higher caries experience than men (p < 0.05). Caries was most prevalent in the molar teeth and least prevalent in the incisors and canines. Significant age-related increases in tooth wear were found, and a positive correlation between wear in molars and incisors (p < 0.001). Other clinical findings were signs of apical lesions, crowding of teeth, aplasia, non-erupted canines and calculus. Conclusions Findings show that dental pathological lesions affected a majority of the studied population, and indicate that women were more predisposed to dental disease than their male counterparts. Results are discussed from a multi-factorial explanation model including dietary, physiological and cultural etiological factors.