Because any meaningful discussion must include a time span of well over 3000 years, the survey of dental health in ancient Egypt is an ambitious task. A simplified time line would begin with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt (3100 BC) and end with the conquest of Egypt by the Roman Empire (30 BC). This 3000 year span may be further divided by the dynastic periods of the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC), Middle Kingdom (2050-1786 BC) and the New Kingdom Periods (1600-1085 BC); the Late Dynastic Periods (1085-300 BC); and the Ptolemaic Period (300 BC-AD 30).

In reviewing the literature that examines dentistry and dental health in ancient Egypt, it is clear that many authors have based their conclusions on the biological record (mummies) from discrete periods in the 3000 year history. Piccione (1996) has recently completed the Bibliography of Egyptian Medicine, which includes practically every medical and dental publication relating to ancient Egypt. This was a Herculean task given the disparate disciplines and corresponding journals with an interest in some aspect of ancient Egyptian medicine. The problem remains that data are often based on small sample sizes or even single mummies from various museum collections throughout the world. Many of the mummies in museum collections are derived from the later period, particularly the Greek-Roman period, whereas there are fewer examples from the Old or Middle or New Kingdoms.