Judging by the state of Mery the mummy’s teeth, dental hygiene likely wasn’t a top priority 2,800 years ago, and it may even have been the cause of her demise.
Deep abscesses, broken teeth and intensely infected gums filled Mery’s mouth, leading researchers to believe she died from blood poisoning stemming from multiple infections.
“She had the most horrendous dental disease,” said Dr. Barry Daly, radiologist with the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, which performed a computerized tomography, or CT, scan of the ancient mummy for the exhibit titled Mummified at the Walters Art Museum.
Named Mery — which means “the beloved” in ancient Egyptian — by museum staff, the mummy is on display through next November where visitors can peruse a virtual autopsy of her.
“To see what we saw was certainly startling,” said Dr. Warren Tewes, lead forensic dentist at the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner who participated in the CT scans of this ancient mummy.
By the time she died around age 60, Mery had about 28 teeth remaining in her mouth, all in varying stages of decay, Tewes said. The roots of about half the teeth showed abscesses, where the bone dissolves due to acid eating through it. Often so-called “gum boils” can well up and drain the infection — and relieve some pain — but for Mery, the decay was too severe.
“There were so many of them here that there had to be several at any given time that were creating pain,” Tewes said.
Researchers also could see what looked like an attempt to pack one of the teeth, perhaps with some kind of soothing ointment to ease her pain, Tewes said.
Without antibiotics, Mery would have been a “sitting duck” for septicemia, which is blood poisoning, Daly said.
Tooth decay happens today, but often people seek care before it reaches this magnitude, Tewes said.
The high-profile case of Deamonte Driver, the 12-year-old Prince George’s County boy who died in 2007 when a tooth infection spread to his brain, recently brought dental health to the forefront in Maryland.
However, the body is usually pretty good at protecting against infections from abscesses, said Dr. Marc Nuger, president of the Maryland State Dental Association.
“The mummy probably had long-standing infections that broke down her body,” he said, adding most people would have sought care long before it got to that point.
“All these abscesses probably slowly did her in.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Mummified
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Nov. 8, 2009
WHERE: Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore
INFO: thewalters.org
