Ooo, real writting.

Oh, look. I wrote something. The first two "edited" pages of my paper are now presented for your viewing pleasure. Right. I say "edited" because I'm still tossing around the idea of changing the race/ancestry section. Hmmm . . . thoughts.

Dental Morphology

Dental morphology is the “study of the form and structure of teeth” (Mayhall 2000:103). In an archaeological setting, the study of dental morphology extends beyond human dentition, and includes the dentition of other animals. When applied to humans, dental morphology can be used to study both living and skeletal samples. The unique composition of teeth mean that they often endure even after other bone matter has decayed, preserving a permanent record of past populations (Mayhall 2000:103). In living populations, dental morphology is often applied in a forensic setting in an attempt to assign an identity to an unknown corpse. A body can be assigned a fairly accurate age estimate based on dental development and wear. A rough assignment of ancestry can be made based on the presence or absence of certain morphological traits.

Race or Ancestry?

It is important to note that the assignment of ancestry is different from the assignment of race. Race is a social construct, for which there is no biological justification. Ideas of “race” differ from culture to culture. An individual identified as “black” in the culture of the modern United States might be identified as “white” in Puerto Rico. A more appropriate approach is to attempt to determine the ancestry of an individual, or the group with which the individual “would have likely been identified in their community” (Ubelaker 2000:55). We want to know the likely descent of the individual we are looking at. If we know that, we can better determine what they may have looked like (necessary to identify a skeleton). Using probable ancestry and forensic and anthropological databases, a worker can determine a height and weight range for a skeleton. Ancestry is also vital information for facial reconstruction. With vital information such as this, an unknown and unidentifiable body or skeleton can be given a name and a history.

Basics of teeth

Although teeth look like bone, they cannot produce red blood cells and are therefore not considered to be bone. Teeth are composed of four types of tissue: enamel, dentin, pulp and cementum (Fig. 1). Enamel is the outer, white layer of the teeth; it is the hardest substance in the human body, allowing the teeth to withstand a lifetime of grinding. Dentin is the second layer. Similar to bone, this yellowish material carries some nerve fibers and forms the bulk of each tooth. The pulp forms the tooth’s soft center. It contains blood, nerves, and lymph vessels. Pulp is the center of nourishment and nerve interaction between tooth and brain. Cementum is a hard, bone-like material that covers the majority of the root of a tooth and helps connect the tooth to its jaw socket. There is also a periodontal ligament, which lies between the cementum and the jawbone, and acts as a shock absorber.

Picture that Actually Applies

Shoveling is most common on the upper central incisors (right smack in the middle of your face, under your nose). The edges of the teeth, closest to the tongue (hence lingual) build up, creating ridges around the center of the tooth. This trait is common in people of Asian descent, including American Indians.

"I'll bet the hardest thing about prize fightin' is pickin' up yer teeth with a boxin' glove on" -Kin Hubbard

So, I am obviously very bad at this whole html thing. Forgive me. Fogive my format.

Instant Expert: Teeth

What are teeth? Teeth are structures of the digestive system that enable us to properly chew our food aiding in its eventual breakdown.

Are teeth bone? No. Although somewhat bonelike in appearance, teeth cannot produce red blood cells. Teeth are composed of four tissues: *Enamel is the outer, white layer of the teeth. Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, allowing the teeth to withstand a lifetime of grinding. *Dentin is the second layer. Similar to bone, this yellowish material carries some nerve fibers and forms the bulk of each tooth. *Pulp is the tooth’s soft center. It contains blood, nerves, and lymph vessels. Pulp is the center of nourishment and nerve interaction between tooth and brain. *Cementum is a hard, bone-like material that covers the majority of the root of a tooth and helps connect the tooth to its jaw socket. There is also a Periodontal Ligament, which lies between the cementum and the jawbone, and acts as a shock absorber.

How many teeth are there? Humans have two sets of teeth. The first set, the deciduous teeth of children begin forming during gestation. After teething, children have 20 teeth. The mouth can be separated into quadrants (e.g. upper-right, lower-left); in each quadrant, there will be five teeth: central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first molar, and second molar. Between six and 12 years, the deciduous teeth are replaced with permanent teeth. Eventually the set of permanent teeth will contain 32 teeth, although the third molars (wisdom teeth) may not come in until an individual is in their twenties, if they come in at all. The jaw of modern humans has become smaller, often necessitating the removal of impacted third molars. The quadrants of the permanent dentition each include: central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first premolar, second premolar, first molar, second molar, and third molar (wisdom tooth).

What is dental morphology? Dental morphology is the study of the form and structure of the teeth. Basically it’s all about how teeth “look.” Big deal. What is it good for? Dental morphology is especially useful as a comparative study. Using living and skeletal samples, databases of population characteristics can be formed. Using these databases, a skeletal sample of unknown origin can be assigned a probable ancestry based. In a forensic setting ancestry (“race”) is vital to narrowing down the possible identifications of an unknown individual. There is of course lots of fancy math involved, but the simplest way to explain it is as a comparison of known to unknown.

What kind of things are compared? Metric and non-metric traits. A metric trait is one which can be measured, such as tooth length or enamel thickness. Non-metric traits have more to do with the “look” of the tooth. There are some traits or abnormalities that show up more consistently in some populations than in others. These traits are “measured” and a scale of “there-to-not there.” There are no real numbers involved, it’s all relative.

What are some examples of non-metric traits? Some common non-metric traits include Carabelli’s trait and Incisor-Shoveling Carabelli’s trait is also known as Carabelli’s tubercle or cusp. The first report of this trait was published by the Austrian court dentist Georg Carabelli in 1842. This trait consists of an additional cusp on the mesiolingual surface of the upper molars. Like any non-metric trait, Carabelli’s may be completely absent or may be present in continuous variation or grades of severity. Typically a reference plaque with several grades of severity will be used to determine the “grade” an individual should get. Bearing in mind the relative nature of the measurements, it can be said that a higher percentage of people with European ancestry will display a larger expression (i.e. grade) of Carabelli’s trait. Shoveling is found in incisors, and occasionally canines. The marginal ridges of the teeth are prominent, lending a shovel-shaped appearance to the lingual surface of the tooth. This trait is found frequently in persons of Asian descent, including American Indians and Eskimo/Inuit.

You talk funny. What do all those terms mean? Terms such as mesiolingual are common dental terms used by dentists, anatomists, anthropologists, anyone with a need to describe the location of teeth or traits on teeth. · mesial refers to the surface (edge) of the tooth that is closer to the midline (think nose). · distal refers to the surface (edge) of the tooth that is more distant from the midline (think closer to the ear). · lingual refers to the surface of the tooth closest to the tongue. · buccal refers to the surface of the posterior teeth (premolar and molar) that is near the cheek. · labial refers to the surface of the anterior teeth (incisor and canine) that is near the cheek and lips. · occlusal refers to the biting surface of the posterior teeth. · incisal refers to the biting surface of the anterior teeth. · contact areas are areas that touch the adjacent teeth. So what exactly does mesiolingual refer to? By combining mesial and lingual, the lazy writer can quickly refer to the surface of the tooth next to the tongue, which is also closer to the midpoint of the face.

So ancestry, isn’t that just race? No. Race is a social construct, there is no biological justification. Ideas of “race” differ from culture to culture. An individual identified as “black” in modern American (U.S.) culture might be identified as “white” in Puerto Rico. Avoidance of the term race isn’t just political correctness—it is an attempt to avoid confusion (especially important when working in an international context). A more appropriate term is “ancestry” Race is the group with which the individual “would have likely been identified in their community.” We want to know the likely descent of the individual we’re looking at. If we know that, we can better determine what they may have looked like (necessary to identify a skeleton). Using probable ancestry and forensic and anthropological databases, a worker can determine a height and weight range for a skeleton. Ancestry is also vital information for facial reconstruction.

"Mortification builds character." -J.D. Robb

We have to have pictures. I like pictures. I really like this picture (it doesn't really have anything to do with my research except having teeth). This is part of a series of photographs of dissected skulls taken by Drs Tom Lakars and John Wheeler at the UIC College of Dentistry in 1976. This particular photograph is of a 5 year old child. You can clearly see his permanent upper right canine and mandibular first molar, neither of which has erupted. This is an awesome picture, and if I were writing a paper about ageing a skeleton based on dental evidence, I'd go on more about it, but mostly I just like the picture. It's fascinating. More Skulls

Research Topic Summary

My research will be done on the topic of the uses of dental morphology in Anthropology. Dental morphology is used by the anthropologist both for identifying individuals (in a forensic setting) and for comparing populations (the general scope of the dental anthropologist). The paper will focus on the use of nonmetric crown traits in permanent teeth. A nonmetric trait is one which is either present or absent (e.g. shoveling of the incisors) as opposed to a trait which may be measured and quantified (e.g. enamel thickness). Crown traits are those are visible in the mouth in on a cast. I will focus on the permanent dentition for several reasons, but primarily because I am more familiar with adult dentition than the deciduous dentition of children. There is also far more research available on the permanent dentition than on the deciduous. To further narrow the scope of my paper, I have decided to focus on three or four traits (including Carabelli’s trait and shoveling). I will decide on the remaining traits to focus on at a later time. Rather than only describing the traits, which would lead to a short paper, I will also give a brief overview of the world populations that each individual trait is found in, including their frequencies.

A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy.

-Benjamin Disraeli

Journal Article I

Edgar, H.J.H. Prediction of Race Using Characteristics of Dental Morphology. J Forensic Sci 2005; 50(2): 269-73. Good article discussing a technique for comparing morphological traits to determine "social race affiliation" (i.e. likely ancestry). Study used samples of modern African and European American dental casts. Edgar determined that of 136 observed traits, eight had frequencies that differed enough (between African and European Americans) to be of use. 90% of the cases were correctly identified using a series of tables indicating the presence or absence of traits and the likelihood that the trait is found in a population.

Significant Traits

• Tuberculum dentale
• Lower premolar cusp variation (mandibular anterior premolar)
• Lower premolar cusp variation (mandibular posterior premolar)
• Deflecting wrinkle
• Trigonid crest
• Mandibular molar cusp 5 (Hypoconulid) (mandibular molar 2)
• Mandibular molar cusp 5 (Hypoconulid) (mandibular molar 3)
• Mandibular molar cusp 7 (Metaconulid)

We must dare to think “unthinkable thoughts . . . . We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent . . . . Because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindlessness. -J.W. Fulbright

Biting Research

Writing an eight page research paper for English Comp. No worries. But a semester to write eight pages? What will I do? This is what I get for slacking (and transferring) and not taking my required courses in a timely manner. DM would laugh himself into a midden. Initial idea for a research topic is Dental Anthropology. Much too broad, but what the heck, I have a semester to whittle it down into eight pages. Slim(mer) Pickings

• Non-metric morphological variation
• Diet and dentition
• DNA and dentition
• Age estimation: morphology vs. chemistry (good JFS articles available)
• Dental degradation

Goodness knows there is enough readily available research on any of those topics. J. of Forensic Science alone has published at least 10 papers in the last year. I will probably go with non-metric morphological variation, if only because I am most familiar with the literature available. Likely focus would be on three or four morphological features, and the various ways they are used in Dental Anthropology.

Common Morphological Features

• Shoveling
• Carabelli trait
• Sinodonty
• Protostylids

Books Ordered through OhioLINK

• Hillson, S. (1996). Dental Anthropology.
• Scott, G.R. and Turner, C.G. (1997). Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth.

Should probably find my Bass field manual. It's always handy for the basics. This should be an interesting topic to research--I have read some interesting articles by researchers at UT and from some Japanese universities.

‘Better than other people.’ Sometimes he says: ‘That, at least, you are.’ But more often: ‘Why should you be? Either you are what you can be or you are not – like other people.’ Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings