WEDNESDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A 6,500-year-old tooth
with traces of beeswax filling may provide evidence of early
human dentistry, researchers say. The tooth was found in a human
jawbone discovered near Trieste, Slovenia, according to a report
in the Sept. 19 issue of the journal PLoS One. Evidence of
ancient dentistry is rare, so this tooth may help provide
insight into early dental practices. "This finding is perhaps
the most ancient evidence of prehistoric dentistry in Europe and
the earliest known direct example of therapeutic-palliative
dental filling so far," study co-leader Federico Bernardini, of
the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, in
Italy, said in a journal news release. The beeswax in the tooth
was applied around the time of the person's death, but the
researchers can't confirm whether it was shortly before or after
death. If it was applied before death, it was likely intended to
reduce pain and sensitivity from a vertical crack in the enamel
and dentin layers of