Vikings were forced to pull out their own teeth to deal with agonising aches.
Analysis of more than 3,200 teeth from 171 Swedish Vikings revealed that they suffered large cavities that were perhaps caused by a diet of mead, honey and carbohydrates.
There is also evidence – taken from Vikings buried in a cemetery between the 10th and 12th Century – that many tried to “drill” their teeth using tools to create holes.
The researchers found that almost two-thirds of Viking adults had at least one cavity in their teeth with four per cent of cases causing an infection that reached the nerve – an issue that would be dealt with in modern times using a root canal.
Dr. Carolina Bertilsson, who led the study for the University of Gothenburg, said: “Many Vikings may well have been in a very bad mood because of excruciating toothache.
“When something hurts that badly, you want it to stop, which may be how they came across early forms of dentistry and, it appears, sometimes pulled their own teeth out in desperation.
“Without a local anaesthetic, that must have been truly horrible, so we should maybe feel a bit sorry for them.”
