Fauchard, Boerhaave, and the pathogenesis of periodontitis in the 17th and 18th centuries

Dear Editor,
Periodontitis is a chronic oral infection of the supporting dental tissue that occurs in response to accumulation of dental plaque. It is also considered to be a risk factor for a set of diseases, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Periodontitis is well recorded in the palaeopathological literature, and one of its oldest cases is thought to be that of a juvenile Australopithecus Africanus dating back to 2.5–3 million years ago. Determining the antiquity and historical presentations of medical conditions can help shed more light on their evolutionary history...