Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

When in Rome
28 October 2014

When in Rome

This pretty grin belongs to a 25-year-old Roman woman living in Britain around 350 AD. Cosmetic bleaching had yet to be invented. Dental hygienists were scarce. Despite this, a study of skulls from a Roman-British burial ground found that people in Roman times had far less gum disease than we have today. The researchers found that five per cent of Roman skulls showed signs of moderate to severe gum disease compared with 15 to 30 per cent in today’s population. Located in the English county of Dorset, the burial ground belonged to a community of non-smokers with low levels of diabetes, two of the factors that greatly increase gum disease today. Her teeth were perfectly healthy teeth, but this lady was buried with a copper coin in her mouth, resulting in a slightly discoloured incisor.

Written by Nick Kennedy

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.