Chapter 8 - DENTITION

Abstract

Teeth are formed deep within the jaws and then erupt through the gum tissue once nearly complete. Unlike the changing shapes of other skeletal elements, tooth crown morphology can only be altered by attrition (tooth wear), breakage, or demineralization once the crown erupts. Tooth morphology can be used to effectively differentiate between populations within a species, species within a genus, and so forth. The dentition is one of the most important parts of human anatomy for the osteologist. The stability and adaptive significance of tooth form establishes the dentition as a centerpiece in many comparative population and evolutionary studies. The first premolar behind the canine in the human dentition is identified as the third premolar because it occupies the third of the four original premolar positions. Study of the dentition is considerably simplified through the use of a short-hand that unambiguously identifies each tooth. Any modern dentition reflects millions of years of evolution.