Comparative odontometry of the permanent post‐canine dentition of American Whites and Negroes

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The permanent post‐canine teeth of American Whites and American Negroes of the New York City area were studied odontometrically. The mesio‐distal and bucco‐lingual dimensions of the crowns were measured, as was the total tooth height and crown height. The individual root lengths of these teeth were also measured, in several ways, as was root width. The mean total root volumes of these teeth was measured by a unique mercury displacement method. In another aspect of this study the mean angular divergence of the roots from a mid‐coronal vertical plane was determined, while the robustness of these roots was described as a ratio between root width and length. Finally, an extensive comparison was made between our data and those in the literature on a number of African Negro populations.American Negro tooth crown and root dimensions and volumes were significantly different from those of American Whites only sporadically, although the Negro teeth usually tended to be larger. Our comparative data gave some indication that the size of both the maxillary and mandibular American negro teeth, as well as the shape of the mandibular (but not the maxillary) American Negro teeth are roughly intermediate between those of American Whites and South African Negroes. This suggestion that a “hybrid” population may possess intermediate values of crown index and of crown module is supported by our analysis of Hottentot‐South African Negro hybrids with their presumptive parental stocks.

This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit: