title: Dental caries prevalence of medieval Korean people.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prevalence and distribution of dental caries in medieval Korean society were evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two thousand and nine hundred teeth samples of 126 individuals collected from 16th to 18th century Korean tombs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Preservation status of sample was good. The prevalence of ante- and postmortem tooth loss was 4.4% and 14.2%, respectively. The total caries prevalence was 3.9%. The tooth surface most frequently affected by dental caries was occlusal (4.5%), followed by approximal (2.1%), buccal (1.5%), and lingual (1.1%) surfaces.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of dental caries in Joseon Dynasty skeleton collection was lower than have been found in other collections of similar chronology. The low consumption of refined sugar in medieval Korean society might be a possible explanation, though the technical limitations inherent in such comparison studies preclude definitive conclusions.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Anatomy, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Yongon-dong, Chongno-Gu, South Korea. hss9438@empal.com
authors.forename: Sun Sook
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kyung-won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Myung Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jaehyup
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang Seok
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Sang Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000266:history*; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000266:history; D055815:Young Adult