18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Viking Dentistry Was Surprisingly Advanced And Not Unlike Today’s Treatments

Viking Age teeth at Varnhem indicate surprisingly advanced dentistry, according to the results of a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg.

In 2005, excavations in Varnhem, Sweden uncovered the remains of a Christian church, near which was a cemetery containing thousands of Viking graves dating to the 10th to 12th century AD. The site is known for extensive excavations of Viking and medieval environments, including tombs where skeletons and teeth have been preserved well in favorable soil conditions.

In this study, Carolina Bertilsson and colleagues performed clinical and radiographical examinations of the dentition of individuals from this site. In total, the team analyzed more than 3,293 teeth from 171 individuals individuals.

The teeth underwent clinical examinations using standard dentistry tools under bright light. A number of X-ray examinations were also performed using the same technique used in dentistry, where the patient bites down on a small square imaging plate in the mouth.

The results, which have been published in the journal PLOS ONE, show that 49% of the Viking population had one or more caries lesions. Of the adults’ teeth, 13% were affected by caries – often at the roots. However, children with milk teeth – or with both milk and adult teeth – were entirely caries-free.

Tooth loss was also common among adults. The studied adults had lost an average of 6% of their teeth, excluding wisdom teeth, over their lifetimes. The risk of tooth loss increased with age.

The findings suggest that caries, tooth infections, and toothache were common among the Viking population in Varnhem. However, the study also reveals examples of attempts to look after teeth in various ways.

“There were several signs that the Vikings had modified their teeth, including evidence of using toothpicks, filing front teeth, and even dental treatment of teeth with infections,” says Carolina Bertilsson, a dentist and Associate Researcher, and the study’s first-named and corresponding author.

To the left a row of teeth showing clear signs that the person has made diligent use of toothpicks. To the right filed front teeth. The purpose of filing is unclear, but may have been used as an identity marker for men. Photo: Carolina Bertilsson

Not unlike today’s treatments

One sign of more sophisticated procedures was molars with filed holes, from the crown of the tooth and into the pulp, probably in order to relieve pressure and alleviate severe toothache due to infection.

“This is very exciting to see, and not unlike the dental treatments we carry out today when we drill into infected teeth. The Vikings seem to have had knowledge about teeth, but we don’t know whether they did these procedures themselves or had help.”

The filed front teeth may have been a form of identity marker. In both this and previous studies, the cases found were male. Carolina Bertilsson continues:

“This study provides new insights into Viking oral health, and indicates that teeth were important in Varnhem’s Viking culture. It also suggests that dentistry in the Viking Age was probably more sophisticated than previously thought.”

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295282

University of Gothenburg

Cover Photo: A filed hole from the crown of the tooth into the pulp – a procedure that reduces toothache and infection. Photo: Carolina Bertilsson

Related Articles

Coin hoard found in fireplace ‘belonging to Scottish clan chief’ murdered at infamous Glencoe Massacre

17 October 2023

17 October 2023 1

Coins believed to have belonged to a Scottish clan chief murdered in an infamous 17th-century Glencoe massacre, have been found...

Researchers found similar descriptions in the Book of Revelation and ancient curse tablets

10 February 2023

10 February 2023

A research project headed by Dr. Michael Hölscher of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has uncovered that the book of...

On the eastern shore of the Marmara Sea, off the coast of Yalova, a 1700-year-old Shipwreck was discovered

23 August 2023

23 August 2023

A 1700-year-old shipwreck was discovered during maritime police training dives in the province of Yalova, located on the east coast...

Early Iron Age cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare textile fragments found in Austria

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

Archeologists from the Vienna Natural History Museum (NHM), a cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare surviving textile fragments have...

Archaeologists uncover intact 16th-century quayside in the Belgium town of Leper

24 March 2022

24 March 2022

Excavations at Leper (Ypres), located in the West Flanders province of Belgium, have uncovered a 16th-century quayside. The find was...

Egyptian archaeologists found 110 ancient tombs in the Nile Delta

28 April 2021

28 April 2021

The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced Tuesday that Egyptian archaeologists had discovered 110 burial tombs on the Nile Delta dating...

Zeugma of the Black Sea to be will Restore

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

Hadrianaupolis Antique City is located 3 km west of Eskiyapar district of Karabük. This ancient city has been known as...

6000-Year-Old Salt Production House Rewrites Europe’s History

31 March 2021

31 March 2021

Archaeologists in the UK have found an ancient stone age-era salt-production house in North Yorkshire, estimated to be older even...

Aramaic four inscriptions found for the first time in eastern Turkey

17 September 2022

17 September 2022

Four inscriptions written in Aramaic were discovered in the ancient city with a grid plan, located on an area of...

The largest marine turtle fossil of its kind ever discovered in Europe unearthed in Spain

21 November 2022

21 November 2022

In northern Spain, scientists discovered the remains of a new species of enormous marine turtle. The prehistoric creature is the...

A new Archaeological Site has been Discovered in Oman

7 July 2021

7 July 2021

Oman‘s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism recently discovered an ancient site in the town of Al Khobar, Sumail Province, Al...

Archaeologists Unearth Monumental Relief Depicting Assyrian King and Major Deities in Ancient Nineveh

15 May 2025

15 May 2025

A team of archaeologists from Heidelberg University has made an extraordinary discovery in the ancient city of Nineveh, near modern-day...

A 2,100-Year-Old Marble Statue of Mother Goddess Cybele Discovered in Ordu’s Ancient Kurul Castle

7 March 2025

7 March 2025

A breathtaking statue of the Mother Goddess Cybele, dating back 2100 years, was found at the historic Kurul Castle in...

A mosaic made by the freed slave to thank God was found in the church excavation

10 January 2022

10 January 2022

During the season excavation of the 6th-century Holy Apostles Church, located in an orange grove in the Arsuz district of...

7.5 Million Annual Elephant Skulls Fossil Were Found in Turkey “Choerolophodon Pentelic”

17 March 2021

17 March 2021

A complete skull fossil from 7.5 million years ago was discovered on the bank of the Yamula Dam in the...