Study of dental caries and periapical lesions in a mediaeval population of the southwest France: differences in visual and radiographic inspections.

Dental caries and periapical lesions have often been studied in archaeological samples. The majority of these studies concern lesions detected clinically and, in some cases, radiography is used to improve the scoring results. The purpose of the present study was to compare and combine the two methods for recording caries and cysts. The studied dental material derived from a mediaeval sample from the south of France. The study included sixty mandibles (788 teeth). Each tooth was observed clinically and radiographically. Absence of teeth was noted and unerupted teeth, which could be viewed on radiographs were also noted. The location and degree of development of each lesion were recorded. Occlusal lesions of degree 1 were mostly detected clinically (5.1% vs.1.4% detected radiographically). Radiographic detection increased the score of approximal lesions of degree 2 (1.4% vs. 0.7%) and the detection of intraosseous lesions. This research has shown that the combination of radiographic and clinical examinations improves the caries detection and thus, increases the caries score in a studied dental sample.