Medieval Teeth: Were They Actually Healthier?

You've probably heard that medieval life was brutish and unsanitary, but when it comes to dental health, you might be surprised. While our ancestors weren't winning any awards for their dental hygiene routines, their teeth were often healthier than those of people who lived centuries later. In fact, only about 20% of medieval individuals suffered from tooth decay – a figure that would make modern dentists envious. The secret wasn't in superior care or medical knowledge; rather, it lay in what wasn't on their plates. Let's explore how the medieval diet inadvertently protected their pearly whites.

The Sugar-Free Medieval Diet

While modern diets are laden with refined sugars, medieval Europeans enjoyed remarkably better dental health due to their sugar-free lifestyle.

You'll find that their dietary habits were starkly different from today's sugar-heavy consumption patterns. Sugar was a luxury item that only the wealthy could afford, making it virtually absent from the average person's diet. Archaeological evidence shows that only 20% of medieval teeth exhibited decay. During the High Middle Ages, honey was cheap and widely available as the primary sweetener for common people.

Instead of refined sugar, medieval Europeans relied on sugar alternatives like honey for sweetening their food. Their daily meals consisted of natural ingredients, including fruits, vegetables, and dairy products rich in calcium.

They also consumed bread made from stone-ground grain, which, despite causing tooth wear from its grit content, may have helped prevent decay. These dietary habits contributed to considerably lower rates of tooth decay compared to modern populations.

Ancient Dental Care Practices

Beyond their sugar-free diet, medieval Europeans developed resourceful methods for dental hygiene. You might be surprised to learn they used rough linen cloths for tooth cleaning, combining them with herbs like sage, rosemary, and mint. White teeth and fresh breath were considered signs of beauty in medieval times.

While they didn't have toothbrushes, they valued white teeth and fresh breath just as we do today. Their diets often included fruits and vegetables that naturally supported dental health.

When it came to dental remedies, medieval practices were more unusual by modern standards. If you'd a toothache, you might've been treated for "tooth worms" with powdered ants and eggs, or given concoctions made from boiled newts and beetles.

Local barbers performed tooth extractions without anesthesia, and infection was a common risk.

Despite these primitive practices, medieval Europeans actually maintained better dental health than their 19th-century descendants, largely due to their low-sugar diet.