The prevalence and natural history of periodontal disease in Britain from prehistoric to modern times.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of periodontitis in British populations during the past 3000 years. To discuss the relevance of these findings to modern populations denied access to modern dental treatment.

Design: Observation and assessment of periodontal status of skeletal material using a recently developed method of assessment.

Setting: Archaeological material from various collections throughout UK covering prehistoric, mediaeval and seventeenth to nineteenth century.

Subjects: 504 individuals.

Main Outcome Measures: The periodontal status of individual septa was recorded as to whether they were healthy, had gingivitis or periodontitis. The prevalence of periodontitis among individuals and populations was assessed.

Results: The prevalence of periodontitis appears to have remained virtually constant during the past 3000 years in Britain, despite considerable changes in the oral environment.

Conclusions: The significance of these findings in respect of untreated populations in underdeveloped countries today is considerable. It is considered essential that clinical and field studies record and report on oral environmental factors that may mimic or, by themselves, be responsible for periodontal attachment loss.