Even Neanderthals needed the dentist

Archaeologists have found an ancient tooth in Siberia, in Russia, which they claim shows the first evidence of dental treatment.

The tooth belonged to a Neanderthal - an ancient and extinct relative of humans - who lived around 59,000 years ago.

Researchers discovered that the tooth had a deep hole in it, which they think was created using a thin, sharp stone tool to 'drill' away at it over a long period of time.

Scientists are excited because this is the first time that dental drilling has been seen outside of Homo sapiens (the scientific name for humans), and is the oldest example of this behaviour by around 40,000 years.

The tooth was discovered in a cave in Chagyrskaya, where lots of Neanderthal bones and stone tools have been uncovered over the years.

The researchers examining the tooth carried out lots of tests on it, including taking X-rays, where they discovered that it had very bad tooth decay.

The scientists think that this was the reason why the Neanderthal used a sharp tool, likely made from hard stone, to try to dig out the decay, which was probably very painful and uncomfortable.

They tested this theory on three modern day human teeth, by twisting a stone tool for around 35 and 50 minutes - which recreated the same markings and patterns as on the ancient tooth, and eventually made a hole in it.