Toothy Find

Humans have been going to the dentist longer than scientists had imagined. It turns out the art of tooth-drilling was practiced about 9,000 years ago.

Scientists recently made the discovery after digging up nine ancient skulls with teeth. Some of the teeth had tiny holes drilled into them, probably to remove cavities. "We could see the ridges along the sides of the holes that were made by drills," says David Frayer, a scientist at the University of Kansas who studied the teeth.