Bl2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 8,1983
Cavity Reports
(Continued from Page BIO)
been drinking water from the
Bolan River, which is rich in
fluoride. Therefore, it is im
possible to compare the dental
health of the population at dif
ferent periods; fluoride protected
the teeth of all.
“It’s a rather unhappy finding in
some ways because it doesn’t allow
'ANCIENT Sj
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W
f
Al
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us to investigate the problem of
caries incidence and agriculture,”
Lukacssays.
The heavily fluoridated water in
the river comes from the melting
snow in the mountains to the west
of Mehrgarh, mountains heavy in
deposits of the mineral fluorite,
from which fluoride is derived.
URGE OF TOOTH PROTECTION
\ Natural fluoride in Bolan River water
I has helped harden the enamel (I) of
I developing teeth in children, even in
f prehistoric Mehrgarh. Teeth from ancient
' skeletons show a high level of fluoride
intake. Once ingested, it is absorbed
by the dentin (2) and enamel through the
blood vessels in the pulp (3). In mature
teeth, fluoride absorbed by contact with
the tooth makes it resistant to decay
causing acids. Experts think fluoride
also inhibits formation of these acids.
v Jj&i" apoQftikWflci
“The concentration of fluoride in
the Bolan River is 2 milligrams per
liter,” says Lukacs. Normally,
water contains less than half this
amount.
In studying the teeth of
prehistoric skeletons, Lukacs is
interested in three factors: the
structure of the teeth of the entire
population, which, because teeth
have their own “genetic code,” can
help document the origin and
migration patterns of a group;
tooth size, which is a key to
determining the subsistence
pattern of a prehistoric
population; and tooth pathology,
indications of disease.
Lukacs studied more than 1,000
prehistoric teeth from Mehrgarh in
his research, which was supported
by the national Geographic
Society. He found that the caries
rate was a mere 1.3 percent, and
that the rate of tooth loss before
death was less than 1 percent.
Spots and Pitting
The Oregon anthropologist
points out two other factors in the
high rate of fluorosis, which was so
extensive that it often led to brown
spots and the pitting of the teeth.
One is that people drink more
water when they live in arid
tropical climates such as that at
Mehrgarh. The other is that the
prehistoric peoples in the area, like
those living there today, probably
washed their food in the water
from the Bolan River. The result
was a high fluoride intake.
Lukacs also has words of caution
for other scientists working with
prehistoric skeletons who find low
caries rates.
First Female Ag Agent Dies
BALTIMORE Beatrice Cissel
Pfefferkom, 75, of West Friend
ship, a Howard county native and
Maryland’s first female Extension
agricultural agent, died recently at
Union Memorial Hospital in
Baltimore after a long illness.
Mrs. Pfefferkom was well
known to rural leaders throughout '
the state as a teacher, volunteer 4- 4
H leader, and Grange officer.
Known to three generations of 4-H
members as “Aunt Bea,” Mrs.
Pfefferkom was appointed on
March 6, 1944, as an assistant
agricultural agent in Howard
county for the Cooperative Ex
tension Service of the University of
Maryland. She served in that
“They may be a little too casual
when they say this is due to a
hunting-and-gathering society, or
to characterize the people they are
working with as nonagricultural,”
he says. “They’ve got to be a little
more careful. It’s no great time
consuming chore to take a sample
of water and have it tested for
fluoride.”
position until June 30,1949.
Mrs. Pfefferkom’s break into
what had been exclusively a male
domain was occasioned by a
shortage of young men in rural
areas during World War 11.
V/ %C\
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