Introduction of sugarcane in Al-Andalus (Medieval Spain) and its impact on children's dental health Jiménez-Brobeil, Sylvia A. Maroto, Rosa Laffranchi, Zita Milella, Marco Reyes Botella, Candela Al-Andalus Caries Deciduous teeth Sugarcane The introduction of sugarcane in Europe by the Arabs in the 10th century AD brought about a drastic change in gastronomy and oral health. In Southern Spain (Al-Andalus), sugarcane was mainly consumed by the elite, although its consump- tion became relatively widespread during the Nasrid Kingdom. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of the introduction of sugar on human diet and oral health by comparing patterns of caries in deciduous teeth between nonadult skeletal samples from two Nasrid populations (La Torrecilla and Talará) and a com- parative set representing various Iberian populations without access to sugarcane (from Bronze to Medieval Ages). We analyzed 770 teeth from 115 nonadults divided into three groups: infants under 2 years of age, nonadults presenting only deciduous teeth, and nonadults presenting mixed deciduous and permanent denti- tion. The frequency of caries is high in the Nasrid individuals and very low in the comparative sample. This finding is in agreement with contemporaneous written sources on the utilization of sugarcane in the diet and as a pacifier for infants during weaning. Differences in the frequency of caries between the Nasrid sam- ples (higher in Talará) are likely related to the socioeconomic differences between these populations. 2023-09-25T09:54:44Z 2023-09-25T09:54:44Z 2022 journal article International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, nº 32, 2022, pp. 283-293 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/84632 https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3064 eng open access Wiley