Centuries have passed since the Vikings swept across Europe in an orgy of destruction and terror.
While their worst excesses are hard to justify even after all these years, it seems they may have been suffering from a particularly acute toothache at the time.
Perhaps due to their diet of beer, mead, honey and carbohydrates, they appear to have suffered from large cavities – leading to painful infections and abscesses.
Without access to fillings or root canals, there is also evidence that they tried to ‘drill’ their teeth, using tools to create holes. Many even had to pull teeth to deal with the pain.
The findings come from an analysis of more than 3,200 teeth from 171 Swedish Vikings buried in a cemetery between the 10th and 12th centuries.
Centuries have passed since the Vikings swept across Europe in an orgy of destruction and terror. While their worst excesses are hard to justify even after all these years, it seems they may have been suffering from a particularly acute toothache at the time (file image)
Perhaps due to their diet of beer, mead, honey and carbohydrates, they appear to have suffered large cavities – leading to painful infections and abscesses (file image)
Without access to fillings or root canals, there is also evidence that they tried to ‘drill’ their teeth, using tools to create holes. Many even had to pull teeth to deal with the pain (file image)
The researchers found that nearly two-thirds of Viking adults had at least one cavity in their teeth.
In four percent of the teeth, this had caused an infection that reached the nerve, and possibly an abscess, causing the kind of agony that would be dealt with today using a root canal.
But resourceful Viking raiders seem to have realized, even without dentists’ drills, that they could create a hole in the tooth to relieve pressure and release pus from the infection.
These holes were found in the teeth of two people inside the cemetery near a Christian church in Varnhem, Sweden.
Dr Carolina Bertilsson, who led the study from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said: ‘Many Vikings may well have been in a very bad mood due to the excruciating toothache.
“When something hurts so much, you want it to stop, which is what early forms of dentistry may have faced, and it seems they sometimes pulled teeth out of desperation.
“Without a local anaesthetic, that must have been really horrible, so maybe we should feel a little sorry for them.”
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, involved dentists closely examining the teeth of 87 men and 46 women from a Swedish Viking population who died at an average age of 35, and 38 children between the ages of babies and 12.
Of the 171 Vikings, 83 adults were found to have cavities in their teeth caused by tooth decay.
Researchers found that nearly two-thirds of adult Vikings had at least one cavity in their teeth (pictured: a researcher examining a Viking’s jaw and teeth)
In four percent of the teeth, this had caused the nerve to become infected and possibly abscessed, causing the kind of agony that would be dealt with today using a root canal (file image)
Previous research found that 3% of Vikings who invaded Scotland had similar cavities that could cause severe pain if they reached the nerve inside the tooth (file image)
Previous research has found that 3% of Vikings who invaded Scotland had similar cavities that could cause severe pain if they reached the nerve inside the tooth.
About five percent of the teeth that the Vikings should have had were lost before death, with researchers believing that many were removed out of frustration over dental pain.
Dr Bertillson said: “The Vikings ate very starchy foods such as bread and porridge, which were bad for their teeth, and the water was not fit for drinking, so they drank beer, which contributes to tooth decay, as well as the mead.
“They also used honey to sweeten food and consumed fruit, so they were always going to get cavities.”
The study also found evidence that a male Viking made horizontal grooves in his front teeth, which had been seen before, and may have been a sign of status, and he did it before going to war.
The Vikings may not have had toothbrushes, but they seem to have been conscious of dental hygiene, with tooth marks showing that they had used toothpicks rather like modern floss to remove food from between their teeth.
An abscess found on a Viking woman may have killed her in her early thirties, researchers suggest, because the infection was bad enough to cause rot or swelling that blocked her airway and stopped her breathing.
Overbites and full mouths were less common among the Vikings, perhaps because their lower jaws grew to consume the harder, coarser food that was part of their diet.
The researchers found that 29 percent of the Vikings whose teeth were analyzed had dental infections.
