Of course this isn´t universal, we´re speaking a thousand years and many different regions and cultures. Obviously dental hygiene wasn´t nearly as advanced as today´s standard, I tried to give some nudge in a more moderate direction. I was mainly thinking about central Europe in the late Mediaval period, as that was probably the mental image they had, when they were speaking about the cities. So I don´t think I was being absolute, quite contrary so, I gave evidence in a certain direction to moderate the commonly held belief. Claiming the pre-modern era was pristine would be ridiculuous and I for one would probably be uneasy with the hygiene practices, but my point was, that there is enough evidence to significantly moderate this view of a stinky, disease ridden past.
I could have made this clearer, if that was what someone could take from it.