Dental Wear and Microwear Analysis

Dental wear and microwear analysis reads the gross wear and microscopic surface textures of teeth to infer diet texture, food processing, and non-dietary tooth use in past populations.

Definition

The study of wear on the teeth—both macroscopic attrition and microscopic surface features—used to reconstruct dietary abrasiveness, food processing, and cultural uses of the dentition in archaeological populations.

Scope

This topic covers macroscopic occlusal wear, used to assess abrasive diets and age, and microscopic microwear—pits and scratches and their texture—which records the mechanical properties of recently eaten foods. It also covers non-masticatory tooth use as a tool, and the strengths and limits of wear evidence, including the rapid turnover of microwear features that biases them toward a 'last supper' signal.

Core questions

• What does the pattern and rate of gross dental wear reveal about diet and food preparation?
• How do microwear features distinguish hard, brittle diets from tough, fibrous ones?
• What is the 'last supper' effect and how does it limit microwear interpretation?
• How can non-dietary tooth use be recognized in the dentition?

Key theories

Microwear turnover and the last-supper effect

Teaford and Oyen's demonstration that dental microwear features form and disappear rapidly, so observed microwear reflects only the most recently eaten foods rather than a lifetime diet.

Microwear texture analysis

The use of three-dimensional surface-texture quantification to characterize microwear objectively, distinguishing diets by properties such as complexity and anisotropy and reducing observer bias relevant to dietary inference.

History

Analysis of gross dental wear is a long-standing part of dental anthropology, summarized in texts such as Hillson's. Microwear study grew with scanning electron microscopy from the 1980s, and Teaford's experimental work clarified its rapid turnover; texture-analysis methods from the 2000s made microwear quantification more objective and reproducible.

Debates

Resolution and reproducibility of microwear

Whether microwear can reliably reconstruct habitual diet given rapid feature turnover and historical problems of inter-observer error, and how far automated texture analysis resolves these concerns.

Key figures

• Simon Hillson
• Mark F. Teaford
• Peter S. Ungar

Seminal works

• hillson1996
• teafordoyen1989
• ungaretal2008

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between dental wear and microwear?

Wear usually refers to the visible loss of tooth surface from chewing abrasive foods over years, while microwear refers to microscopic pits and scratches that form and vanish quickly and reflect very recent diet.

Can teeth show uses other than eating?

Yes—grooves, chipping, and unusual wear can indicate that teeth were used as tools, for example to process fibers or hides, a practice seen in many past populations.