Thousand Year Old Mouth Bacteria Found

Researchers from the University of Oklahoma and an international team discovered a 1,000 year old mouth

1000 year old Mouth Bacteria Found That Causes Gum Disease in Tartar

bacteria preserved in dental plaque.  The find  proved  inflammatory disease causing bacteria existed in a Medieval population from 1,000 years ago.  It is the same bacteria found in 13 percent of the population today.

Christina Warinner, a researcher in the Molecular Anthropologies Laboratory, OU College of Arts and Sciences and an international team of experts extracted DNA to analyze proteins on a molecular scale.  They were able to reconstruct the infection and the immune process.  The find gives insight and valuable information between people and their disease causing microbiome.

The research was initially considered high risk, as no one knew if something harmful was preserved in the calculus.

The dental plaque was harmful to the health of people 1,000 years ago, just as it causes periodontal disease; gum disease today.