Replication of Ancient Egyptian Oral Surgical Procedures Using Stone and Bronze Hand Drills

For over a hundred years researchers have disputed whether ancient Egyptians performed the oral surgical procedure of drilling holes in jaws, presumably in an attempt to relieve pressure and pain due to periapical infections. To date (although it has been indirectly suggested) there have been no published attempts to reproduce the disputed holes identified in the Egyptian mandibles with tools fabricated from stone and bronze, the materials that were available to ancient Egyptian artisans. This paper presents an abbreviated assessment of oral surgery in ancient Egypt regarding these procedures, with an attempt to reproduce these procedures on fresh pig and embalmed cadaver jaws as proxies for vital human bone, using hand drills that were fabricated of bronze and chet.

The experiment confirms that the procedure could be effectively performed with basic hand tools. In comparison to fresh pig mandible the embalming process hardens cadaver bone. Redesign of drill handles would increase efficiency.