A case of dental fusion in primary dentition from late bronze age Greece

Abstract

Background/Aim: Dental fusion is a developmental abnormality that can occur in primary and/or permanent dentition. Case report: A case of double primary teeth from a Late Bronze Age cemetery in Greece is presented. Age estimation of the skeleton was based on dental eruption and development as well as on fusion of primary ossification centres of the cranial and post-cranial skeleton. Analysis of double teeth used morphology, anatomy, location, tooth count and radiological examination. Results showed a 18 month infant. Primary lower right central and lateral incisors were joined by the dentin, and they had distinct crowns and separated pulp chambers; each tooth maintained its own root canal and resembled a normal primary central and lateral incisor shape respectively. Diagnosis showed that double teeth were the result of partial fusion rather than gemination. No other dental abnormalities or lesions were recorded and subsequent teeth were not affected. Conclusions: This is the first example of double teeth in primary dentition reported in the literature from archaeological assemblages in Greece. Being one of the rare examples of dental fusion in the bioarchaeological record, this report adds further to the mapping of dental anomalies in past populations.