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🔬 Science
May 15, 2026 at 01:34 PM
Neanderthals Got Cavities, Too—and New Research Suggests They Drilled Into Their Teeth to Treat Them, Just Like Modern Dentists
Source:
Smithsonian Magazine
Researchers unearthed a 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar showing signs of dental surgery, pushing back the earliest evidence of dental work by 45,000 years.
Neanderthal
dental surgery
archaeology
scientific discovery
ancient medicine