Dental Health and Oral Pathology in a Middle Byzantine Monastic Community: Evidence from the Degirmenalti Monastery (Tuzla, Istanbul)

Objectives: This study presents a dental paleopathological analysis of skeletal remains from the Middle Byzantine Değirmenaltı Monastery (Tuzla, Istanbul), aiming to characterise the frequency and severity of dental pathology in the assemblage and to interpret the findings within the documented dietary and occupational context of Byzantine monastic life. Materials and Methods: Seven dental pathology categories whose caries, alveolar abscess, dental calculus, enamel hypoplasia, chipping, periodontitis, and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) were macroscopically examined in 15 individuals recovered from 14 burials. A total of 247 teeth were recorded, together with 38 antemortem tooth losses. Occlusal wear was scored on a ten-point scale. Findings were compared with published dental data from contemporaneous Byzantine and medieval Anatolian populations. Results: Caries affected 80.0% of individuals (n=12; tooth-level prevalence 10.5%), dental calculus 73.3% (n=11; 41.3%), and AMTL 60.0% (n=9; 13.3%). Alveolar abscess was observed in 46.7% (n=7), periodontitis in 40.0% (n=6), enamel hypoplasia in 33.3% (n=5), and chipping in 26.7% (n=4). Occlusal wear scores ranged from 1.3 to 7.1. Conclusions: The dental profile reflects a carbohydrate-rich monastic diet, communal-living oral hygiene deficits, and pre-admission childhood physiological stress. Non-masticatory wear and chipping patterns in some individuals point to craft-related dental use, consistent with occupational differentiation reported in the postcranial skeleton of the same assemblage.