Poverty and Prejudice: Assembling a Picture of the Oral Health of Convicts Sent to Van Diemen’s Land

The correlation between poor oral health and social and economic disadvantage is a global concern that continues to afflict vulnerable populations. Poverty and its related stresses were also significant factors in the poor oral health experienced by British convicts in the nineteenth century. This article presents an analysis of incidental descriptions of teeth, observed in physical accounts of convicts transported to the penal colonies of Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania, between the years 1803 and 1853. Coding of these descriptions found a significant disparity in the recorded tooth loss of female convicts when compared to their male counterparts. To interpret these findings and build a better understanding of the oral health status of this cohort, the current study draws on modern medical knowledge, relevant bioarchaeological studies and documented archaeological findings, as well as history of the time. Nutritional deficiencies, smoking, unsanitary living conditions and increased susceptibility to disease are common themes, which we know today, impact on oral disease and tooth loss. A less-expected narrative to emerge from the data reviewed, suggests a gender bias involving the close scrutiny of female appearance. Possible evidence of an historically acknowledged racial bias against those of Irish descent is also suggested in our analysis.