Dental Tribune U.S.Edition No.4, 2017

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | April 2017 N EWS a3 “ PLAQUE, page A1 Sidrón, who suffered from a dental ab- scess visible on the jawbone. The plaque showed that he also had an intestinal parasite that causes acute diarrhea, so clearly he was quite sick. He was eating poplar, which contains the pain killer salicylic acid (the active ingredient of as- pirin), and we could also detect a natural antibiotic mold (Penicillium) not seen in the other specimens. “Apparently, Neanderthals possessed a good knowledge of medicinal plants and their various anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties and seem to be self-medicating. The use of antibiotics would be very surprising, as this is more than 40,000 years before we developed penicillin. Certainly our findings con- trast markedly with the rather simplistic view of our ancient relatives in popular imagination.” Neanderthals, ancient and modern hu- mans also shared some disease-causing microbes, including the bacteria that cause dental caries and gum disease. The Neanderthal plaque allowed reconstruc- tion of the oldest microbial genome yet sequenced — Methanobrevibacter oralis, a commensal that can be associated with gum disease. Remarkably, the genome sequence suggests Neanderthals and humans were swapping pathogens as recently as 180,000 years ago, long after the divergence of the two species. The team also noted how rapidly the oral microbial community has altered in recent history. The composition of the oral bacterial population in Neander- thals and both ancient and modern hu- mans correlated closely with the amount of meat in the diet, with the Spanish Ne- anderthals grouping with chimpanzees and our forager ancestors in Africa. In contrast, the Belgian Neanderthal bacte- ria were similar to early hunter gather- ers, and quite close to modern humans and early farmers. “Not only can we now access direct evidence of what our ances- tors were eating, but differences in diet and lifestyle also seem to be reflected in the commensal bacteria that lived in the mouths of both Neanderthals and mod- ern humans,” says Professor Keith Dob- ney, from the University of Liverpool. “Major changes in what we eat have, however, significantly altered the bal- ance of these microbial communities over thousands of years, which in turn continue to have fundamental conse- quences for our own health and well- being. This extraordinary window on the past is providing us with new ways to explore and understand our evolution- ary history through the microorganisms that lived in us and with us.” (Source: University of Adelaide) AD DENTAL TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Newspaper · US Edition PUBLISHER & CHAIRMAN Torsten Oemus t.oemus@dental-tribune.com PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Eric Seid e.seid@dental-tribune.com GROUP EDITOR Kristine Colker g.colger@dental-tribune.com EDITOR IN CHIEF DENTAL TRIBUNE Dr. David L. Hoexter feedbacg@dental-tribune.com MANAGING EDITOR U.S. AND CANADA EDITIONS Robert Selleck r.sellecg@dental-tribune.com MANAGING EDITOR Fred Michmershuizen f.michmershuizen@dental-tribune.com MANAGING EDITOR Sierra Rendon s.rendon@dental-tribune.com PRODUCT/ACCOUNT MANAGER Humberto Estrada h.estrada@dental-tribune.com PRODUCT/ACCOUNT MANAGER Will Kenyon w.genyon@dental-tribune.com PRODUCT/ACCOUNT MANAGER Maria Kaiser m.gaiser@dental-tribune.com CLIENT RELATIONS MANAGER Leerol Colquhoun l.colquhoun@dental-tribune.com EDUCATION DIRECTOR Christiane Ferret c.ferret@dtstudyclub.com ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR Nirmala Singh n.singh@dental-tribune.com Tribune america LLC 116 West 23rd St., Ste. #500 New York, N.Y. 10011 (212) 244-7181 Published by Tribune america © 2017 Tribune america, LLC all rights reserved. Dental Tribune strives to maintain the utmost accu- racy in its news and clinical reports. If you find a fac- tual error or content that requires clarification, please contact Managing Editor Robert Selleck at r.sellecg@ dental-tribune.com. Dental Tribune cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims or for typographical errors. The publisher also does not as- sume responsibility for product names or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Tribune america. EDITORIAL BOARD Dr. Joel Berg Dr. L. Stephen Buchanan Dr. arnaldo Castellucci Dr. Gorden Christensen Dr. Rella Christensen Dr. William Dickerson Hugh Doherty Dr. James Doundoulakis Dr. David Garber Dr. Fay Goldstep Dr. Howard Glazer Dr. Harold Heymann Dr. Karl Leinfelder Dr. Roger Levin Dr. Carl E. Misch Dr. Dan Nathanson Dr. Chester Redhead Dr. Irwin Smigel Dr. Jon Suzuki Dr. Dennis Tartakow Dr. Dan Ward Tell us what you think! Do you have general comments or criti- cism you would like to share? Is there a particular topic you would like to see articles about in Dental Tribune? Let us know by sending an email to feedback@ dental-tribune.com. We look forward to hearing from you! If you would like to make any change to your subscription (name, address or to opt out) please send us an email at c.maragh@dental-tribune.com and be sure to include which publication you are referring to. Also, please note that subscription changes can take up to six weeks to process.

Dental Tribune U.S.Edition No.4, 2017

Pages Overview