What an early example of a dental bridge reveals about health, wealth and social values in the late medieval and early modern world

The 20-karat gold wire was installed some time before the man died. Dittmar, J., Crozier, R., Cameron, A. et al., British Dental Journal, 2026

Researchers have identified Scotland’s oldest dental bridge , and it’s rather flashy. The twisted piece of wire, attached to the jaw of a man from the late medieval or early modern period, is made of 20-karat gold. According to a study recently published in the British Dental Journal , the bridge was drawn between the man’s lower front teeth, either securing a loose incisor or holding a false tooth in its place.

The mandible in question was found two decades ago, during an archaeological excavation at St. Nicholas Kirk, an 11th- or 12th-century church in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 2006, ahead of construction, excavators pulled out about 900 human skeletons and nearly four tons of loose bones.…