《中英對照讀新聞》Skeletons reveal secrets of 9,000-year-old dentistry 骨骸揭開9000年前牙科醫學的奧秘

◎魏國金

Evidence has been found of the world's oldest dentists, who drilled teeth to remove decay about 9,000 years ago. Treatment was carried out in an area of what is now Pakistan, using tiny, flint-tipped wooden drills, that rotated at about 20 times a second, say scientists who reconstructed the implements.

全世界最古老牙醫的證據已被發現，這些大約9000年前的牙醫在牙齒上鑽孔，以去除蛀蝕部分。重建這項醫療技術的科學家表示，施行這項療法的是一處現今為巴基斯坦的區域，使用的是極小的、燧石尖頭木鑽器，一秒約可轉動20次。

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Italian researchers who examined 300 skeletons exhumed from an ancient burial site discovered nine had drilled teeth. Some of the holes were in teeth at the back of the jaws, indicating that they had not been made for decorative purposes.

檢查古墓區挖出的300具骸骨的義大利研究人員發現，其中9具牙齒有鑽孔。部分的牙洞在後臼齒，顯示鑽牙並非為了裝飾。

"The treatment would have been excruciatingly painful because the vibrations would have been very low and very strong," said Professor Alfredo Coppola of Rome University's human biology department. However, it was possible that pain relief had been offered. "This area is well-known for its opium production, so perhaps drugs were used," he said.

羅馬大學人類生物學系教授阿弗雷多．科波拉說︰「這項治療應極其疼痛，因為震動速度非常低，強度也非常強。」但可能提供有鎮痛劑。他說︰「該區以生產鴉片知名，所以可能使用上麻醉藥。」

Modern dental drills rotate at 20,000 times a second. Previously, the earliest known evidence of dentistry was found in teeth from a graveyard in Denmark dating from about 3,000BC.

現代鑽牙機每秒可轉動2萬次。之前所知最早的牙科醫學證據是從丹麥一座墳地內的牙齒所發現，該墓地可上溯至西元前3000年。

新聞辭典

tip：可作動詞，意即在頂端裝上某物，如，a filter-tipped cigarette： 濾嘴香菸。

excruciatingly：極其痛苦地、難以忍受地。

opium：鴉片、麻醉劑。opium poppy： 罌粟花。Opium War 中英鴉片戰爭。