Dentistry in Ancient Asia

My biggest fear in life…going to the dentist. Yes, I have admitted it freely to one and all on more than one occassion. It’s about time I came clean with this group of friends too.

When it comes to sitting in the dentist’s chair I am the biggest chicken I have ever met. So it was only natural for someone that knew of my weakness to send me an article they found on the net. (I believe it can be found on the ABC News site.) I’m sharing it with you cuz I think it’s a neat bit of trivia that you can add to your memory bank…or just read it and then forget about it…

LONDON (Reuters) - Pre-historic people living in Asia 8,000 years ago may have used stone-tipped drills to repair teeth, New Scientist magazine said Wednesday. In what could be one of the earliest examples of dentistry, scientists at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the United States have found tiny, perfectly rounded holes in teeth found in Mehrgarh in pre-historic Pakistan, which they suspect were drilled to repair tooth decay. “The researchers looked at the holes with an electron microscope and found the sides were too perfectly rounded to be cavities caused by bacteria,” according to the weekly science magazine. “Under the microscope, they could see concentric grooves left by what was probably a drill with a tiny stone bit.” Andrea Cucina, who first discovered the tiny holes, said they didn’t appear to be a funeral rite and the teeth were still in the jaw so they had not been drilled to make a necklace. He and his colleagues suspect the holes were a treatment for tooth decay and that plants or another substance had been inserted into the holes to prevent bacterial growth. Because the holes were the same diameter of those found in their beads the scientists said the people of Mehrgarh had the skill and tools to perform such delicate work. “At this point we can’t be certain,” said Cucina. “But it is very tantalizing to think they had such knowledge of health and cavities and medicine to do this.”

[quote]
Originally posted by Muzna:
**
When it comes to sitting in the dentist's chair I am the biggest chicken I have ever met. "**
[/quote]

hello..nice to meet you too...the article is fascinating....but then this can happen..only in Pakistan ....only in Pakistan!


'"Tell me whom you love and I will tell you who
you are.........."

Nice to meet you three.

Bara azaab hai dentist visit! Id rather live with a cavity than go to a dentist. According to Seinfeld, Im an anti-dentite:)

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/frown.gif

Muzna ji did we separate during childhood? I haven’t been to the dentist in a…errrrmm…a couple of years…

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/frown.gif

By now i probably have cavities in just about every tooth…

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/frown.gif

i don’t like dentists

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/devil.gif

Wow....I had no idea that there were so many of us!!!

So good to meet you all!!!

But tell me, are you a true chicken or are you just pretending to be one? I mean, in the past, I have had to be asleep for something as simple as a cleaning!!! Can you claim anything like that?

O' hush you guys, my sister's a dentist and she is sweet!

Though I hate docs, any kind!! Would rather fight it my way than to be on their mercy

[quote]
Originally posted by ahmadjee:
**O' hush you guys, my sister's a dentist and she is sweet!

Though I hate docs, any kind!! Would rather fight it my way than to be on their mercy**
[/quote]

Oh sure.....tell us to hush and that your sister is a dentist and she's sweet.....and then say that you would rather not be at their mercy.....

Now what does that tell us??? Hunh????

that I am secretly a chicken like YOU ALL!

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/biggrin.gif

[quote]
Originally posted by Muzna:
*I mean, in the past, I have had to be asleep for something as simple as a cleaning!!! Can you claim anything like that?
*

[/quote]

Ive had to be asleep on the day of a dentist appointment just to avoid it. Beat that.

...are you a true chicken or are you just pretending to be one? I mean, in the past, I have had to be asleep for something as simple as a cleaning!!! Can you claim anything like that?

No Muzna we can't; You are a bigger chicken.

[quote]
Originally posted by Roman:
No Muzna we can't; You are a bigger chicken.
[/quote]

bows deeply at the waist
Thank you Roman. Leave it to you to call it as you see it.