What Did Ancient Humans Do When They Had a Toothache?

A toothache at 3 a.m. is miserable even with a dentist down the street. So what did our ancestors do without one? Toothpick grooves almost two million years old, a Neanderthal who seems to have soothed a crooked tooth, a 14,000-year-old cavity scraped with flint, tar and beeswax fillings, Stone Age drills, and a twist about acorns that changes who we blame for bad teeth. Every claim in this video is based on published research. All sources are listed below so you can check them yourself. ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 The 3 A.M. Toothache 00:54 Two Million Years of Toothpicks 02:04 An Ice Age Toothache 02:40 The First Cavity Treatment 04:07 Stone Age Drills and Beeswax 05:11 What Farming Did to Your Mouth 05:42 The Acorn Twist 06:44 The Real Villain: Sugar 07:56 Your Pain Is Ancient 📚 SOURCES 1. Frayer DW, Gatti J, Monge J, Radovčić D. (2017). Prehistoric dentistry? P4 rotation, partial M3 impaction, toothpick grooves and other signs of manipulation in Krapina Dental Person 20. Bulletin of the International Association for Paleodontology, 11(1), 1–10. https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/183221 2. University of Kansas News (2017, June 23). Analysis of Neanderthal teeth marks uncovers evidence of prehistoric dentistry. https://news.ku.edu/2017/06/23/analys... 3. Oxilia G, Peresani M, Romandini M, et al., Benazzi S. (2015). Earliest evidence of dental caries manipulation in the Late Upper Palaeolithic. Scientific Reports, 5, 12150. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep12150 4. Oxilia G, Fiorillo F, Boschin F, Boaretto E, Apicella SA, et al., Benazzi S. (2017). The dawn of dentistry in the late upper Paleolithic: An early case of pathological intervention at Riparo Fredian. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 163(3), 446–461. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23216 5. Coppa A, Bondioli L, Cucina A, Frayer DW, Jarrige C, Jarrige J-F, Quivron G, Rossi M, Vidale M, Macchiarelli R. (2006). Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry. Nature, 440, 755–756. https://doi.org/10.1038/440755a 6. AP / NBC News (2006, April 5). Dig uncovers ancient roots of dentistry. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12168308 7. Bernardini F, Tuniz C, Coppa A, Mancini L, Dreossi D, Eichert D, Turco G, Biasotto M, Terrasi F, De Cesare N, Hua Q, Levchenko V. (2012). Beeswax as Dental Filling on a Neolithic Human Tooth. PLoS ONE, 7(9), e44904. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... 8. Adler CJ, Dobney K, Weyrich LS, Kaidonis J, Walker AW, Haak W, Bradshaw CJA, Townsend G, Sołtysiak A, Alt KW, Parkhill J, Cooper A. (2013). Sequencing ancient calcified dental plaque shows changes in oral microbiota with dietary shifts of the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions. Nature Genetics, 45(4), 450–455. https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2536 9. Humphrey LT, De Groote I, Morales J, Barton N, Collcutt S, Bronk Ramsey C, Bouzouggar A. (2014). Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco. PNAS, 111(3), 954–959. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318176111 10. World Health Organization. (2025, March 17). Oral health — Fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sh... 11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fast Facts: Cavities. https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/data-... 12. Gustafsson BE, Quensel CE, Lanke LS, Lundqvist C, Grahnén H, Bonow BE, Krasse B. (1954). The Vipeholm dental caries study: the effect of different levels of carbohydrate intake on caries activity in 436 individuals observed for five years. Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 11(3–4), 232–364. https://doi.org/10.3109/0001635530899... This video is for educational purposes only and is not medical or dental advice. If you have tooth pain, see a dentist or another qualified health professional. 🔔 Subscribe:    / @scribblewhyofficial   #AncientHistory #Archaeology #Dentistry