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7,500 years ago, 'dentists' drilled teeth

WASHINGTON - Scientists have now proven what patients in dentists' chairs have often thought: Drilling teeth is downright prehistoric.

People drilled nearly perfect tiny holes in the teeth of live patients between 7,500 and 9,000 years ago, according to carbon-dating of skulls from a Pakistan graveyard.

That means dentistry is at least 4,000 years older than first thought. The discovery of the dental work is described in the journal Nature.

This was no mere tooth tinkering. The 11 drilled teeth found in the remote graveyard were hard-to-reach molars. And in at least one instance, the ancient dentist managed to drill a hole in the inside back end of a tooth, boring out toward the front of the mouth.

The holes went as deep as one-seventh of an inch (3.5 millimeters).

"The holes were so perfect, so nice," said study co-author David Frayer, an anthropology professor at the University of Kansas. "I showed the pictures to my dentist and he thought they were amazing holes."

How it was done is painful just to think about.

Flint drill heads were found on site, so researchers say they think a small bow was used to drive the drill tips into patients' teeth. Lead author Roberto Macchiarelli, an anthropology professor at the University of Poitiers, France, and colleagues simulated the technique and drilled through human (but no longer attached) teeth in less than a minute.

"Definitely it had to be painful for the patient," Macchiarelli said.

Researchers said they were impressed by how advanced the society was in Baluchistan - the area where terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding.

Evidence suggests the drilling occurred on ordinary men and women - not slaves or royalty.

[Last modified April 6, 2006, 02:00:13]