🔬 Science May 13, 2026 · Kiona N. Smith

Neanderthals drilled cavities to treat a toothache 59,000 years ago

Ars Technica Science
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Neanderthals drilled cavities to treat a toothache 59,000 years ago
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The world’s first dentist was a Neanderthal, according to a recent study.
59,000 years ago in what’s now southwestern Siberia, a Neanderthal had a toothache. It must have been a doozy because they were desperate enough to sit still while someone drilled into the tooth with a sharp stone tool, removing the infected tissue and ultimately relieving the pain.
The process left behind a hole in the tooth that paleoanthropologist Alisa Zubova of the Russian Academy of Sciences and her colleagues recogn

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