4 ms·

Neanderthals drilled cavities to treat a toothache 59,000 years ago

56 points by Bender 6mo ago

Robdel12 6mo ago
This is so awesome. This is just a dumb off the cuff thought but I do wonder how hardwired this is into us as a species. I have a crummy autoimmune disease and I can’t tell you how many times when I’m in bad pain my brain is like “cut it off” or something like that.
- londons_explore 6mo ago
  Has anyone done DNA sequencing of a cell being attacked by the immune system in an autoimmune patient? My hypothesis is the cell might be infected with some latent virus (maybe all the cells of that type are), and the immune response is 'correct'.
  - DANmode 6mo ago
    Opportunistic infection from things like EBV that only remain in sustained number in organs until you’re weakened, rhymes with what you’re saying.
deafpolygon 6mo ago
Maybe this is proof of time-travel.
- jamiek88 6mo ago
  NO. NO TIME TRAVEL. NO ALIENS. Every fucking time we learn something cool about our ancestors someone attempts to undermine it with shit like this. Neanderthals doing dentistry is way, way, way cooler and more interesting than your fucking woo. Every single time.
  - alexanderdmitri 6mo ago
    This is exactly the type of comment I'd expect from a time-traveling alien trying to cover its tracks. Why did you create us? Why do you hide in the shadows?!
- 4289076290867 6mo ago
  [dead]
AngryData 6mo ago
As someone who has experienced serious tooth infection and internal pressure out of reach of dentistry, im not too surprised. It took everything I had even with tons of benzocaine to not go medieval on my face with my toolbox. If I was living in the stone age I probably would of tried to bust the tooth out with a rock and stick if nobody else had any solutions.
- DANmode 6mo ago
  > out of reach of dentistry What about holistic (as in, whole-body) dentists?
- alterom 6mo ago
  Sure, but they didn't bust the tooth out with a rock and stick. They drilled cavities. They did dentistry, with dentistry tools. Neanderthals practiced dentistry 59,000 years ago. Everything we know about Neanderthals seems to be just the tip of the iceberg given that. Not long ago, we thought Homo Sapiens were obviously more intelligent, it's in the name! (That, and obviously there's more of them in our DNA, so...) We might need to rethink that.
londons_explore 6mo ago
Has anyone tried vacuum to treat cavities? Hooking up a vacuum pump should cause the contents of the cavity to dry out after a few minutes and dessicate. In the process the boiling liquid pushes out foreign matter. And then some low viscosity resin can be used to displace where the water was. Might stop drilling being necessary whilst still separating bacteria from their energy source. Seems obvious, but can't find any papers of this being tried.
- opan 6mo ago
  Dry socket comes to mind. When you have your wisdom teeth out, you aren't even supposed to use straws for a while. I imagine the vacuum pump would be much stronger than the suction from using a straw.
- euroderf 6mo ago
  Or even just fill the hole with a temp of some kind. Field repair. Appropriate for Antarctic scientists, transoceanic sailors, and people without a lot of money. Next step would be to automate it. Micromachinery.

56 points by Bender 6mo ago

This is so awesome. This is just a dumb off the cuff thought but I do wonder how hardwired this is into us as a species. I have a crummy autoimmune disease and I can’t tell you how many times when I’m in bad pain my brain is like “cut it off” or something like that.

londons_explore 6mo ago
Has anyone done DNA sequencing of a cell being attacked by the immune system in an autoimmune patient? My hypothesis is the cell might be infected with some latent virus (maybe all the cells of that type are), and the immune response is 'correct'.
- DANmode 6mo ago
  Opportunistic infection from things like EBV that only remain in sustained number in organs until you’re weakened, rhymes with what you’re saying.

deafpolygon 6mo ago

Maybe this is proof of time-travel.

jamiek88 6mo ago
NO. NO TIME TRAVEL. NO ALIENS. Every fucking time we learn something cool about our ancestors someone attempts to undermine it with shit like this. Neanderthals doing dentistry is way, way, way cooler and more interesting than your fucking woo. Every single time.
- alexanderdmitri 6mo ago
  This is exactly the type of comment I'd expect from a time-traveling alien trying to cover its tracks. Why did you create us? Why do you hide in the shadows?!
4289076290867 6mo ago
[dead]

AngryData 6mo ago

As someone who has experienced serious tooth infection and internal pressure out of reach of dentistry, im not too surprised. It took everything I had even with tons of benzocaine to not go medieval on my face with my toolbox. If I was living in the stone age I probably would of tried to bust the tooth out with a rock and stick if nobody else had any solutions.

DANmode 6mo ago
> out of reach of dentistry What about holistic (as in, whole-body) dentists?
alterom 6mo ago
Sure, but they didn't bust the tooth out with a rock and stick. They drilled cavities. They did dentistry, with dentistry tools. Neanderthals practiced dentistry 59,000 years ago. Everything we know about Neanderthals seems to be just the tip of the iceberg given that. Not long ago, we thought Homo Sapiens were obviously more intelligent, it's in the name! (That, and obviously there's more of them in our DNA, so...) We might need to rethink that.

londons_explore 6mo ago

Has anyone tried vacuum to treat cavities? Hooking up a vacuum pump should cause the contents of the cavity to dry out after a few minutes and dessicate. In the process the boiling liquid pushes out foreign matter. And then some low viscosity resin can be used to displace where the water was. Might stop drilling being necessary whilst still separating bacteria from their energy source. Seems obvious, but can't find any papers of this being tried.

opan 6mo ago
Dry socket comes to mind. When you have your wisdom teeth out, you aren't even supposed to use straws for a while. I imagine the vacuum pump would be much stronger than the suction from using a straw.
euroderf 6mo ago
Or even just fill the hole with a temp of some kind. Field repair. Appropriate for Antarctic scientists, transoceanic sailors, and people without a lot of money. Next step would be to automate it. Micromachinery.