The earliest dental prosthesis in Celtic Gaul? The case of an Iron Age burial at Le Chêne, France

Abstract

The discovery of an iron pin in place of an upper incisor tooth from a La Tène burial at Le Chêne in northern France may represent one of the earliest examples of a dental implant in Western Europe. The body was that of a young woman who had been buried in a richly furnished timber chamber. The iron pin may have been inserted during life to replace a lost tooth, or before burial to restore the visual integrity of the corpse. The concept of the dental prosthesis may have been taken from the Etruscans by returning Celtic mercenaries, although dental implants of this specific kind have not been found in Etruscan contexts.

Magnesium-based implants: a mini-review

“…The first implanted biomaterial can be traced back to 3000 years BC, where gold and silver were employed to repair trephination [1]. The oldest western European implants date back to 2300 BC, where iron, wood, and ivory were combined to produce an artificial tooth [2] However, it wasn't until the late 18 th /early 19 th century, and particularly after the Second World War, that the science of implantology took off.…”

Tackling the Concept of Symbiotic Implantable Medical Devices with Nanobiotechnologies

“…Successful implantation of ivory teeth or gold dental bridges have been found in ancient mummies of Egypt . An iron pin in place of an incisor tooth has been discovered on a young rich Celtic woman buried in northern France around 2 centuries BC, with the evidence indicating that prosthesis having been implanted intravitally . The assumption is that this unfortunate attempt at implantation killed this patient, probably because the implant was placed without any anesthesia under rudimentary hygienic conditions that most likely resulted in an abscess and the death of the woman.…”