Neanderthals used toothpicks not only to get those dark, leafy greens from out between their teeth, but to combat the pain caused by oral diseases such as gum inflammation, too.
The former habit was previously documented in the genus Homo as far back as Homo habilis, believed to inhabit the Earth between 1.9 and 1.6 million years ago. A recent study of an ancient fossil reveals this same hominid used toothpicking to alleviate oral pain as well.
Published in the journal PLOS One, the report points to toothpick marks on the teeth of a Neanderthal related to gum disease as evidence.
"This individual attempted to alleviate the discomfort caused by periodontal disease," Marina Lozano of the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana said in a statement. "This disease usually causes bloody and inflamed gums, so the systematic use of toothpicks could mitigate sore gums."
While toothpicking grooves have been identified in many other fossils, they are not often associated with a dental disease. "However," Lozano explains, "in the case of [this fossil] the toothpick was not only used as a primitive method of dental hygiene, but it is associated with a dental disease and with the clear intention to alleviate the pain, and that makes it unique."
The discovery makes the fossil the oldest use of a toothpick to relieve the suffering of an oral disease.
For this reason, says Lozano,"this study is a step to characterize the Neanderthals as a species with a wide range of adaptations to their environment and wide resources even in the field of palliative medicine."
The study was authored in collaboration with Maria Eulalia Subirà, biological anthropology professor and researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and José Aparicio of the Diputació Provincial de València.