Statistical analyses were performed to see if significant differences occur between Area 1 males (9) and females (11) when considering four variables, total carious teeth, total caries per individual, total abscess and total resorbed teeth. The independent samples t-test is intended to compare the mean of female factor averages for each variable against male factor averages for each variable. Levene’s test was used to assess the homogeneity of variances between all oral pathological variables. All of the values are greater than 0.05, thus equal variances can be assumed. The results of the t-test show no significant differences between sex in any of the oral pathological variables, since the p-values are greater than 0.05 (Table 8.2.1) Therefore the results of this test indicate that Area 1 males and females did not significantly differ in the prevalence of oral pathologies.
An independent samples t-test was employed to measure the rates and prevalence of carious lesions in Area 1’s adults and subadults. The intact dentition of 9 subadults, 11 females, 9 males and 1 unsexed adult were contrasted. In order to conduct the t-test all of the adults were collapsed to represent one group of 21 individuals. A Levene’s test confirmed the homogeneity of variances between variables with a significance of (>.05) (Table 8.2.2). The results of the equality of means t-test revealed that both caries variables are statistically significant with p- values less than 0.05 meaning that there is a significant difference between adults and subadults with regard to their rates of carious lesions. Although an observed difference is seen when examining the percentage of carious teeth between men and women when considering ante- mortem tooth loss, males experience higher totals of carious teeth, 6 individuals experienced 25
carious teeth, with a total of 29 total lesions. The females experienced 26 carious teeth from 9 individuals, with a total of 31 lesions. The males experienced higher frequencies of ante-mortem tooth loss as well with a total of 194 resorbed teeth, while the females only experienced 51 resorbed teeth. The total number of carious teeth per individual is significantly higher in the adults than in the subadults, and not surprisingly, the numbers of lesions on the afflicted teeth are significantly greater as well. Only one subadult had caries and had three carious teeth and a total of three carious lesions.
Table 8.2.1Area 1. Independent Samples t-testAdults vs. Subadults
Variables
Levene's Test for Equality of Variances
Sig.
t-test Equality of Means
Sig. (2-tailed) Total Carious Teeth Equal variances assumed .04 .019
Equal variances not assumed
.004
Total Caries Equal variances assumed .042 .019
Equal variances not assumed
.003
The majority of teeth afflicted with caries were the molars, followed by the premolars; interproximal caries and caries located on the occlusal surface were observed as the most common location for the presence of caries. The maximum number of caries observed from a single individual was 11. This individual, Feature 13, was a middle aged man who suffered from very poor oral health, at the time of his death he was coping with 8 carious teeth, 11 total caries, 5 abscesses and 15 resorbed teeth. Additionally, his mandibular left lateral incisor and canine each had one enamel hypoplasic band, indicating at least one period of developmental stress.
When the prevalence of caries in the subadults is observed, 88 percent escaped carious lesions all together, only one individual, Feature 30 experienced caries and had 3 carious teeth, accounting for an 11 percent prevalence of carious teeth from Area 1’s subadult population. The average number of caries from the subadult’s available dentition was 1.66. Area 1’s youth
experienced the lowest frequency of oral maladies when contrasted with the Area 2 and
Avondale cemeteries. Males experienced an average of 5.09 carious teeth, while females had a slightly better average of 2.77. The only unsexed adult experienced a total of four carious teeth on the available dentition. Of the 30 total individuals in the sample size, 15 exhibited at least one carious lesion (50 percent).
Figure 8.2.1 Area 1 Total Number of Carious Teeth by Sex and Age Cohort
The rates of dental caries varied greatly within Area 1, and these results must be tempered with an inventory of resorbed and abscessed teeth. Features 26 and 27 died as young adults and were deemed to have the healthiest oral cavities. Feature 26, an unsexed 15 year old had five enamel hypoplasias on four teeth, showing two periods of arrest in the enamel
was possibly the healthiest orally of her peers; she like Feature 27 was unaffected by caries, tooth loss or abscess and exhibited only small calculus deposits and light wear, presumably from pipe smoking. Area 1’s population experienced minimal dental maladies when compared with contemporaneous data from Area 2 and Avondale.
Ante-mortem tooth loss occurred in 13 of the 21 adults (62 percent), with an average of 11.6 resorbed teeth per individual, the maximum number of resorbed teeth observed in an individual was 32 and the lowest number observed was 1. Active abscesses were observed in 20 percent or 6 of the 30 individuals in the Area 1 population, all of these individuals were adults. Of the 6 individuals with abscesses the average was 2.5 abscesses per individual with a
maximum of 5. The presence of abscesses and ante-mortem tooth loss can be the result of gross caries and these percentages must be taken into account when examining caries prevalence in any archaeological population.