Population variation in tooth, jaw, and root size: A radiographic study of two populations in a high‐attrition environment

Patricia Smith*, Yochanan Wax, Fanny Adler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Radiographs were taken of the jaws of skeletal remains of two populations of different‐phenotype Prehistoric Australians from Roonka and Early New Zealanders (Maoris). On these radiographs crown, root, and corpus size were measured. Corpus height was subdivided into alveolar bone height, defined as the bone superior to the mandibular canal, and basal bone height, defined as that inferior to the mandibular canal. Both between and within the two populations there was a significant and negative correlation between crown size and corpus height. The differences between the two populations in corpus height were associated with differences in alveolar bone height rather than basal bone height and support hypotheses associating continued eruption of adult teeth with growth of the alveolar bone. The findings also support previous studies that have shown only a low correlation between crown size, root size, and corpus height.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)197-206
Number of pages10
JournalAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology
Volume79
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1989

Keywords

  • Australia
  • Jaws
  • Mandible
  • New Zealand alveolar bone height
  • Roots
  • Teeth

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