Ă–tzi the Iceman, the 5,300-year-old mummy discovered encased in ice 20 years ago in the Italian Alps, may have had all his teeth when he died, but they were in bad shape, Discovery.com reported.
New findings from CT scans presented this week at the World Congress on Mummy Studies in San Diego revealed that man suffered from advanced abrasion of his teeth, "profound" carious lesions, and periodontitis, the article stated.
The severity of the mummy's carious lesions surprised the researchers, who called the condition evidence of change in the Neolithic diet. DNA testing of the mummy's oral cavity is planned in order to learn more about the presence of bacteria contributing to the presence of caries, the article stated.
