Dental Anthropological Study of the Non-metric Traits of the Palauans

Abstract

The frequency of the dental non-metric traits of school students in Koror, Palau was investigated. The parameters were recorded based on 22 crown traits classified by the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System. In Palauans, the frequencies of shoveling and double shovel were not so high as in northeast Asians, but relatively high frequencies were found in tuberculum dentale in the maxillary second incisor and Cusp 5 in the maxillary first molar. Carabelli's trait and deflecting wrinkle were not found so frequently as in the Philippines and Bali populations. The frequency, 70.6%, of the 4-cusp type of the mandibular second molar was highest in the Asian populations cited in this study. The principal coordinate plot for these 17 sets of scores, based on Smith's MMDs and standard deviations showed that data from Sundadont and Sinodont populations were differently positioned on the first axis. The Palauans belonged to Sundadont group and located in an extreme position on the right of the first axis and in relatively lower position in the second axis, which represented the unique combination of dental characters of Palauans.