A unique case of mandibular osteomyelitis arising from tooth germ infection in a 7,000-year-old infant from Siberia

Abstract

Excavations from a 7,000-year-old mortuary site in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia, Russian Federation, revealed an infant with osteomyelitis of the mandible. The lesion exhibits deformation of the anterior mandibular base, an extra-oral cloaca, and new periosteal bone layers on the corpus. Entry of oral microorganisms was likely via the deciduous left canine, with infection then concentrated around the forming permanent canine tooth germ. This infection route is not widely documented in paleopathology and the pathogenicity of oral microorganisms is discussed. This unique case is one of the oldest examples of infant osteomyelitis of the jaws, adding to our understanding of the antiquity and development of infectious diseases in humankind.