Oldest case of impacted wisdom teeth found

CHICAGO, March 7 (UPI) -- Field Museum scientists in Chicago say they've discovered the oldest case of impacted wisdom teeth in a famous 15,000-year-old human skeleton.

Digital X-rays of the mandible of "Magdalenian Girl" shows impaction of her right lower third molar in the skeleton found in France in 1911 and acquired by the museum in 1926.

For years the rare skeleton was thought to be that of a girl because her wisdom teeth hadn't erupted, an event typically occurring between 18 and 22 years. But a new analysis of Magdalenian Girl's bones led Field Museum scientists to conclude she was a 25- to 35-year-old woman at the time of her death.

The high-quality digital X-rays revealed the wisdom teeth were impacted and had failed to erupt at the normal time. That, say scientists, is significant because impacted wisdom teeth are thought to be the result of dietary changes associated with later developments in human cultures.

"Finding impacted wisdom teeth 15,000 years ago indicates the human diet might have already changed, some would say 'deteriorated,' earlier than previously thought," said Robert Martin, Field Museum primatologist.