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Cited by 54Dental Health and Care UtilizationForensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology StudiesOral microbiology and periodontitis research

Oral health in transition: The Hadza foragers of Tanzania

Open access
Crittenden, Alyssa N., Sorrentino, John, Moonie, Sheniz A., Peterson, Mika, Mabulla, Audax, Ungar, Peter S.·2017·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0172197PMC PMC5351833
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Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that a decline in oral health accompanies the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, given increased consumption of carbohydrates. This widely touted example of the mismatch between our biology and modern lifestyle has been intuited largely from the bioarchaeological record of the Neolithic Revolution in the New World. Recent studies of other populations have, however, challenged the universality of this assertion. Here, we present the first comprehensive study of oral health among a living population in transition from the bush to village life, the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, to test the hypothesis that the shift from foraging to farming, or agricultural intensification, inevitably leads to increased periodontal disease, caries, and orthodontic disorders. Our results showed that women living in villages consuming a mostly agricultural diet exhibited more caries and periodontal disease than those living in the bush consuming a mostly wild-food diet. Furthermore, men living in the bush consuming mostly a wild-food diet had more than those living in the village consuming a mostly agricultural diet. These findings are explained by the high incidence of maize consumption in village settings, along with previously recognized variation in rate of caries between men and women. The unexpected discovery of high caries incidences for men in the bush is likely explained by heavy reliance on honey, and perhaps differential access to tobacco and marijuana. These data support the notions that mechanisms of cariogenesis are multifactorial and that the relationships between oral health and the shift from a predominantly wild-food diet to one dominated by cultigens are nuanced.

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  • Several animal studies have shown the relationship between oral health and the texture of food eaten: wild animals have a higher oral health status because domestic animals eat refined foods that do not require intense chewing effort.

    “Several animal studies have shown the relationship between oral health and the texture of food eaten: wild animals have a higher oral health status because domestic animals eat refined foods that do not require intense chewing effort [59].”

    From A Cross-Talk between Diet and the Oral Microbiome: Balance of Nutrition on Inflammation and Immune System’s Response during Periodontitis (2022) · cites this paper as [59]

  • The low rates of periodontitis among bush-dwelling women compared with village women were suggested to result from both compositional and textural differences in their diets.

    “The low rates of periodontitis among bush‐dwelling women compared with women who lived in village settings was suggested to result not only from compositional differences in their diets, but also from textural differences.”

    From The oral microbiome: Role of key organisms and complex networks in oral health and disease (2021) · cites this paper as [258]

  • In the Hadza study, men living in the bush did not uphold the same oral health status as their female counterparts, likely because of cultural influences including high honey consumption and tobacco use.

    “However, men living in the bush did not uphold the same oral health status as their female counterparts, predictively because of cultural influences, including high consumption of honey and tobacco use.”

    From The oral microbiome: Role of key organisms and complex networks in oral health and disease (2021) · cites this paper as [258]

  • In the Hadza study, women in village settings consuming a primarily agricultural diet had significantly greater incidences of caries and periodontal disease than women in a bush setting consuming a wild-food diet.

    “women who lived in village settings and consumed a primarily agricultural diet had significantly greater incidences of caries and periodontal disease than those who lived in a bush setting and consumed a wild‐food diet including legumes, wild game, berries, and uncultivated tubers.”

    From The oral microbiome: Role of key organisms and complex networks in oral health and disease (2021) · cites this paper as [258]

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. [18]Turner C. Dental anthropological indications of agriculture among the Jomon people of central Japan. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1979; 51: 619– 636.
  2. [33]Mayhall JT. The effect of culture change upon the Eskimo dentition. Arctic Anthropol. 1970; 7(1): 117– 121.
  3. [66]Berbesque JC, Marlowe FW, Crittenden AN. Sex differences in Hadza eating frequency by food type. Am J Hum Biol. 2011; 23(3): 339– 345. 10.1002/ajhb.21139 21445938 · DOI
  4. [86]Milner GR. Dental caries in the permanent dentition of a Mississippian period population from American Midwest. Coll Antropol. 1984; 8: 77– 91.

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Authors
Crittenden, A. N., Sorrentino, J., Moonie, S. A., Peterson, M., Mabulla, A., & Ungar, P. S.
Affiliations
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas (US)
  • University of Dar es Salaam (TZ)
  • University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (US)
Corresponding author
  • Crittenden, Alyssa N.
  • Sorrentino, John
  • Moonie, Sheniz A.
  • Peterson, Mika
  • Mabulla, Audax
  • Ungar, Peter S.
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2017-03-15
Volume
12
Issue
3
Pages
e0172197
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0172197
PMC
PMC5351833
OpenAlex
W2671175007
Cited by
54
References
102
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2
FWCI
9.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Scholarship - UNLV (University of Nevada Reno) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1539843)
  • Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (1539841)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Dental Health and Care Utilization
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
Keywords
oral health, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, transition to agriculture, periodontal disease, dental caries, maize consumption, honey consumption, sex differences in caries, Neolithic transition, bioarchaeology, cariogenesis
MeSH terms
Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Oral Health, Tanzania

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