Don’t expect to find a dentist’s office if you ever visit the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. The inhabitants most likely had no need for them.
Elisa Vanacore, a dental expert and orthodontist currently studying Pompeiian bodies, said, “The inhabitants of Pompeii ate a lot of fruit and vegetables but very little sugar.” She further noted, “They ate better than we did and have really good teeth. Studying their teeth could reveal a lot more about their lives.”
But it likely wasn’t diet alone that gave Pompeiians their good dental health.
Vanacore continued, “The initial results also show the high levels of fluorine that are present in the air and water here, near the volcano.”
Pompeii was destroyed when the volcano in question, Mount Vesuvius, erupted in 79 AD. Many residents were covered in ash that solidified their exteriors and turned them into pumice shells.
Researchers are currently running the 86 plaster casted bodies through a CAT scanner.
