A 5,300-year-old iceman -- dubbed Ötzi -- whose remains were found frozen in the Italian Alps, probably never cleaned his teeth, and suffered from bad breath as a result, researchers have said.
Researchers were stunned by the poor condition of Ötzi’s teeth, and found he suffered from several major cavities as well as a damaged front tooth probably caused by an accident, the Daily Mail reported.
The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, near the Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. Hence the name Ötzi.
Experts said he had an astoundingly large number of oral diseases and dentition problems that are still widespread today.
‘Ötzi suffered from heavy dental abrasions, had several carious lesions - some severe - and had mechanical trauma to one of his front teeth which was probably due to an accident,’ Frank Rühli, head of the study, told the daily. Dentist Roger Seiler from the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich now examined Ötzi’s teeth based on the latest computer tomography data.
Researchers were stunned by the poor condition of Ötzi’s teeth, and found he suffered from several major cavities as well as a damaged front tooth probably caused by an accident, the Daily Mail reported.
The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, near the Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. Hence the name Ötzi.
Experts said he had an astoundingly large number of oral diseases and dentition problems that are still widespread today.
‘Ötzi suffered from heavy dental abrasions, had several carious lesions - some severe - and had mechanical trauma to one of his front teeth which was probably due to an accident,’ Frank Rühli, head of the study, told the daily. Dentist Roger Seiler from the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich now examined Ötzi’s teeth based on the latest computer tomography data.