DNA, teeth and illnesses.

[Audio] DNA, teeth and illnesses. Dr Xavier Riaud Member of the National Academy of Dental Surgery Member of the National Academy of Surgery International Conference on Dentistry and Oral Health Paris, 20/04/2026..

[Audio] Programme. Introduction. What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? - through its DNA - through its structure. Identifying illnesses through teeth. A few examples. Conclusion..

[Audio] Introduction. Whether through the study of its DNA, which remains a costly process, or its mineral structure, a tooth provides endless scope of investigation provided the DNA is intact and is able to be used. This is based upon historical remains found on sites. A tooth is indestructible, withstanding very high temperatures (over 1000°C) and as a result, it is an extraordinary forensic tool, a source of knowledge which, if used well, provides an unlimited abundance of information..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Background: Ötzi is the chosen name given to a preserved human body which is frozen and dehydrated and was discovered in the Ötztal Alps on the Italian-Austrian border on the 19th of September 1991. Aged around 46 years old, he would have lived between 3 350 and 3 100 BC. Studies of his dental DNA concluded that it belonged to sub-division K1 of the European Haplogroup K very often found in the southern Alps and around the Ötztal region..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Identification : In 2005, archaeological research focussed on the Sainte-Croix altar at Frombork Cathedral where 13 bodies were found, including the skull and teeth of a man in his seventies. A team of specialists from the Krakow Forensic Institute and the Swedish University of Uppsala identified the remains of Copernicus, the famous astronomer. Studies of his dental DNA compared to that of a hair found in a 1598 book, entitled Calendarium Romanum Magnum by Johannes Stoeffler. This book was used by Copernicus when alive and enabled a formal identification..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Poisoning: In 2008, the remains of Diane de Poitiers were exhumed from the graveyard of the Anet Church. A complete, toothless lower jaw bone, an upper left jaw bone and a tooth were recovered. The tooth (n˚24 of the Tooth Numbering System) was subjected to DNA sampling which revealed a level of gold considerably higher than normal. Gold in the form of a drinking liquid solution would have been used by Diane to enhance longevity and beauty. This liquid solution slowly poisoned and killed her..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Ancestry: Today, Doorn Castle, the last residence of Emperor William II, is open to visitors. In a bedside cabinet a little box contains a tooth. Thanks to this tooth a case of possible illegitimate ancestry relating to William II was ruled out. An artist had claimed to be of noble descent and in 1996 a DNA sample was taken from the remains of the woman in question. This was compared with a sample from the tooth of the German monarch and no ancestral relationship was found..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Chronobiology: In August 2008, Richard Green of the Max-Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig successfully completed the first entire mitochondrial DNA sequencing of a 38 000 year-old Homo neanderthalenis. Two teams from the same institute, one led by Svante Pääbo and the other by Edward Rubin, concluded in 2010, through a sequence of around one million nucleotides of mitochondrial DNA of dental origin from Neanderthal man, that each one of us carries a part of the genome of Neanderthal man..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Body temperature: The California Institute of Technology, more commonly known as Caltech, has been able to determine body temperature, from isotopes originally from dinosaur teeth, with the same accuracy had a rectal thermometer been used. The Brachiosaurus would therefore have had a temperature of 38.2 º C and the Camarasaurus a temperature of 35.7 º C..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Geographic origin: In 2011, a grave was excavated in Dorset where many Viking bodies were buried (54 bodies and 51 skulls). They had been killed by the local British population. After careful examination, the central incisors of these men had been made smooth. Scientists assume that these tribal mutilations were intended to frighten their enemies. The fact remains that after isotopic analysis of these famous teeth their origin was confirmed. One of these corpses was even found to have come from north of the Arctic Circle..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Age verification: In 1976 and in 1977, during the restoration of the mummy of Ramses II (1314-1213 BC) the Egyptian pharoah spent 8 months at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris where all conceivable forensic examinations were carried out. The teeth were not forgotten. Gustafson’s age determination method gave an age of death of 80 – plus or minus five years..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Diet: Australopithecus afarenis (4 100 000 to 3 000 000 years ago known as Lucy’s species) originates from Afar, in northern Ethiopia. The consumption of leaves left traces of a polished finish on the incisors. Food from the under the soil containing abrasive particles, such as grains from dust or rocks caused small craters to form in the enamel of the molars. The Australopithecus ate an abundance of subterranean parts of plants (roots, bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, onions) as well as other tough foods such as fruit and vegetables from Savannah shrubs. In this example, isotopes are a mine of information..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Occupation: In March 2008, the mummified body of a woman from the Coptic period from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Grenoble underwent a CT scan at the University Radiology Clinic in the A. Michallon Hospital. “This forensic dental trace has a link to African sculpture. Movement within roots is recognised on the wooden sculptures of the leaders and clairvoyants of people of the Congo Vili and the Congo Yombe ethnic backgrounds of the Democratic Republic of Congo. With a certain type of chewing, fibres in the munkwisa root release juice which has hallucinogenic properties and increases clairvoyant powers. This Egyptian woman from the museum in Grenoble therefore carries a trace from her tooth revealing her to have worked as a clairvoyant.“.

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Some examples of famous dental identification: Hatshepsout (from a broken tooth in her mouth and a dental fragment found in a canopy vase bearing the image of the queen); John Wilkes Booth (from treatment performed two days before his death as identified by his dentist); Napoleon IV (from gold fillings which were made and identified by his dentist); Hitler (from witness statements and facial x-rays)..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Bacteria which can be detected from dental DNA of bodies found on archaeological sites. Historical dental DNA (illustrated by the PCR method) : Anelloviridae, Yersinia, Salmonella, Rickettsia, Bartonella Mycobacterium. Dental DNA taken from intact teeth: Actinobacteria, Actinomyces, Bifidobacterium, Brachybacterium, Corynebacterium, Dietzia, Propionibacterium, Rhodococcus, Rothia, Stomatococcus, Bacteroides, Capnocytophaga, Flavobacterium, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Anaerococcus, Bacillus, Clostridium, Dialister, Enterococcus, Eubacterium, Filifactor, Gemella, Lachnospiraceae, Lactobacillus, Megasphaera, Micromonas, Mogibacterium, Peptostreptococcus, Pseudoramibacter, Selonomonas, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Veillonella, Fusobacterium, Acinetobacter, Burkholderia, Campylobacter, Desulfobulbus, Eikenella, Enterobacter, Neisseria, Wolinella, Treponema, Deferribacteres, Flexistipes, Candida..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Microorganisms extracted from the dental pulp of historical DNA found at archaeological sites in Europe and the Mediterranean region. . Anelloviridae in Kaliningrad ; . Bartonella quintana in France, northern Italy and Lithuania ; . Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Lebanon and Syria ; . Mycobacterium leprae in Lebanon and Syria ; . Rickettsia prowazeckii in France and Lithuania ; . Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi in Greece ; . Yersinia pestis in France, Germany, Italy, England and the Netherlands As a result a proven historical map of diseases and epidemics has been established..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Summaries of previous studies of illnesses based on historical DNA. The Plague : . Drancourt (1998) >> Lambesc, Marseilles (1590, 1722), Yersinia pestis 6/12 teeth. . Raoult (2000) >> Montpellier (XIV century), Yersinia pestis 20/23 teeth. . Drancourt (2004) >> Sens, Dreux, Montpellier (V-XIV centuries), Yersinia pestis 10/19 teeth from 7/8 individuals. . Wiechmann & Grupe (2005) >> Aschheim (Germany, VI century), Yersinia pestis 2/6 teeth. . Drancourt (2007) >> Vienne, Martigues, Marseilles (VII-XVIII centuries), Yersinia pestis 5/36 teeth. . Bianucci (2008) >> France (1590-1722), Yersinia pestis 10/91 teeth from 6/28 individuals. . Bianucci (2009) >> France (XVI-XVIII centuries), Yersinia pestis 10/14 teeth from 4/4 individuals. . Haensch (2010) >> The Netherlands, France, England, Germany (XIV-XVII centuries), Yersinia pestis 15/91 teeth. . Tran (2011) >> Venice (Italy, XIV-XVI centuries), Bartonella quintana 5/93 teeth, Yersinia pestis 3/85. . Tran (2011) >> Bondy (XI-XV centuries), Bartonella quintana 3/14 teeth, Yersinia pestis 4/14. . Schuenemann (2011) >> London (England, 1348-1350), Yersinia pestis 17/46 teeth..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Trench fever : . Drancourt (2005) >> Roaix, Peyraoutes (2230-1950 BC), Bartonella quintana 1/12 teeth. . Raoult (2006) >> Vilnius (Lithuania, 1812), Rickettsia prowazeckii 4/72 teeth, Bartonella quintana 7/10 teeth. . Nguyen-Hieu (2010) >> Douai (1710-1712), Bartonella quintana 1/40 teeth, Rickettsia prowazeckii 6/55 teeth. . Tran (2011) >> Venice (Italy, XIV–XVI centuries) Bartonella quintana 5/93 teeth, Yersinia pestis 3/85. . Tran (2011) >> Bondy (XI-XV centuries), Bartonella quintana 3/14 teeth, Yersinia pestis 4/14 teeth..

[Audio] Typhus : . Raoult (2006) >> Vilnius (Lithuania, 1812), Rickettsia prowazeckii 4/72 teeth, Bartonella quintana 7/10 teeth. . Nguyen-Hieu (2010) >> Douai (1710-1712), Bartonella quintana 1/40 teeth, Rickettsia prowazeckii 6/55 teeth. Typhoid fever : . Papagrigorakis (2006) >> Athens (Greece, 430-426 BC), Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi 3/3 teeth. Tuberculosis : . Matheson (2009) >> Jerusalem (Israel 1st century), Mycobacterium tuberculosis 3/11 teeth, Mycobacterium leprae 1/11 teeth. DNA virus : . Bedarida (2010) >> Kaliningrad (Russia, 1812), Anelloviridae 1/42 teeth..

[Audio] A few examples. The Plague 1999: Yersinia pestis found in the dental pulp of victims of the Great Plague (1720) in Marseilles. 2006: 1st plague victim indentified as Thomas Craven, an English protestant nobleman, who died in 1636, Saint-Maurice cemetery, Val-de-Marne. Dental samples were taken from 7 graves including Craven’s. Two genes, the sequence of which stems specifically from the bacterium responsible for the Plague, Yersinia pestis, were amplified by the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technique using negative controls..

[Audio] A few examples. The Plague 2016: Likewise in London there were 3500 deaths from the plague between 1665 and 1666. 2018: The oldest strain of the plague would be a lot older. “A joint French, Swedish and Danish team made a surprising discovery that was found in the dental pulp of a young woman, in (southern) Sweden : the oldest strain of the plague bacillus Yersinia Pestis is believed to be about 4900 years old.“ 2019: Ten archaeological funeral sites across the European continent totalling more than 600 graves, have been analysed. Teeth from skeletons were extracted so that samples of bacterial DNA could be taken, which allowed the reconstruction of 34 genomes from the bacillus. The conclusion: the eradication of The Black Death of 1346 from the Volga (Russia)..

[Audio] - Typhus On December 1812, the Great Army retreated to Vilnius. In Autumn 2001, a mass grave containing the bones of hundreds of French soldiers was excavated. The project was assigned to the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). This team started with the excavation of the site, anthropological studies and analysis of uniforms. The soil, tissue and tooth samples were handed over to the Rickettsia and Emerging Pathogens Unit of the CNRS..

[Audio] Typhus Tooth analysis from the dental pulp of 35 soldiers has identified the existence of bacteria which had contaminated its host : Bartonella quintana in 7 bodies and Rickettsia prowazekii in 3 others. In other words, following examination, 30 % of soldiers buried in Vilnius were suffering from illnesses caused by lice resulting in their death. These insects, as carriers of the typhus disease, played a leading role in the retreat from Russia. This pathological condition was the main cause of death in this military operation, responsible for 80% of deaths related to disease..

[Audio] Typhus A rapid detection system of 7 pathogens using real time multiplex PCR, has been developed and applied to detect the Bartonella quintana and Rickettsia prowazekii strain Madrid E genotype B from historical dental pulp of soldiers who died in Douai during the War of the Spanish Succession (1710-1712). This is the oldest trace of typhus and this evidence supports the theory that typhus was introduced into Europe by Spanish soldiers returning from battle in America..

[Audio] Leprosy The disease swept across Europe in the Middle Ages before being eradicated at the end of the XVI century. However, it still affects more than 220 000 of the world’s population per year, most often in areas of significant poverty. Evidence of the disease has been found in Egyptian mummies. The initial difficulty encountered by archaeologists has been finding mediaeval graves likely to contain the bodies of lepers. It was in Northern Europe in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden where they were able to exhume “various human remains (teeth, skulls, bones) proven to be carriers of Mycobacterium leprae“. They needed to extract “DNA samples from bones, the oldest of which dated from the XI century AD.“.

[Audio] Leprosy Sequencing of isolated fragments of DNA has revealed 5 distinct strains of bacteria. By comparing the genome of these ancient bacteria to contemporary leprosy strains, “biologists have found that the Mycobacterium leprae genome has barely evolved in over nine centuries.“ Leprosy would not therefore have disappeared from Europe following a genetic mutation causing bacterium to lose its deadly effect. It is plausible that this disease would have been eradicated had its host been more resistant. This has been particularly noted in Europe..

[Audio] Leprosy There’s a possibility of a vaccine for a disease where the pathogen agent hasn’t mutated for 1000 years. Tracking the actual disease >> migrations. “It appears that leprosy was introduced into Asia via two different routes : the first from the south (southern Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines), and the other from the north (Turkey, Iran, China, Korea and Japan). Leprosy was introduced into Europe from the Middle East and from Europe into west Africa. It was introduced into America with the arrival of the first Europeans and the slave trade (from the Caribbean and Brazil)“.

[Audio] Leprosy “The earliest evidence goes back 4 000 years and was discovered in India. It was only found, however, on bone lesions. Lesions typical of leprosy were found on skeletons in Ptolemaic Egypt and England during Roman times. In mediaeval Europe leprosy was mainly restricted to leper cemeteries especially in England, Denmark, Croatia and Hungary.“.

[Audio] Syphilis Archaeological research has revealed the existence of syphilis in Europe since ancient times. The same research shows that it existed in the ancient Greek Achean colony town of Metapontum, now called Metapono in modern Italy, in the VI century BC. In Pompei, grooved teeth were discovered; a deformity characteristic of children infected during pregnancy by their mother suffering from the disease. The most notable evidence of a form of syphilis in mediaeval Europe was found during excavations of an Augustinian monastery dating from the XIII century in the port of Kingston-upon-Hull in the north east of England. Two thirds of the skeletons from this site displayed bone deformities typical of the disease in its third stage. Teeth belonging to Paul Gauguin who was long suspected of having syphilis. His teeth proved that this was not the case..

[Audio] Syphilis Frequent bone lesions, apparently originating from syphilis, have been found dating from pre-Colombian times on the exhumed remains of Native Americans. Venereal syphilis appeared in America “after The Conquest and was brought by the Europeans and perhaps the black slaves who were uprooted from equatorial Africa“. Spanish sailors under Christopher Columbus, taking part in military operations organised by Charles the XIII, would have brought this disease to Naples in 1494..

[Audio] Conclusion. This presentation is a summary of current discoveries. There’s no interest here in focussing on paleomicrobiological techniques of using DNA pulp (PCR) as obviously this area is in its infancy. There are considerable possibilities for investigation as science is constantly developing. Let’s not forget that teeth are indestructible. The non-mutation of the leprosy pathogen for 1000 years >> discussions on the possibility of the creation of a vaccine. There are huge research budgets, the scientific and historical impact of which are not yet known but potentially exciting..

[Audio] Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening.