Analytical Methods and Interpretation of Variation in Tooth Morphology

Publication date: Available online 29 April 2016
Source:Journal of Oral Biosciences
Author(s): Shintaro Kondo, Yoshitaka Manabe
BackgroundMorphological data of teeth have played an important role in the field of dental anthropology. For example, tooth form is useful in elucidating the evolutionary changes from fossil hominids to modern humans, reconstructing life history from archaeological human remains, and analyzing the population history of recent human groups.HighlightLinear measurements of the maximum diameter of the tooth crown are useful in understanding the overall features of a tooth. The crown structure is analyzed in greater detail by performing two and three-dimensional measurements on standard and moiré photographs, respectively. Computed tomography is used for the analysis of the internal tooth structure, and geometric morphometrics is a new method used for quantifying tooth shape. Certain tooth characteristics, for example, Carabelli's trait, are scored based on standardized plaques, and the data are analyzed as non-metric variants. Tooth structure has been expressed using various means, and the development of a new method for the same is advocated for future dental morphological studies.ConclusionOver the past few decades, the morphological data of teeth have been analyzed on the basis of tooth morphology itself as well as from an anthropological perspective. Morphologists should intensify their exchange with molecular biologists and evaluate tooth morphogenesis as well as the genetic basis of tooth structure.



from #ENT via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/24r12Wb
via IFTTT