Growth and development of negro infants: VIII. Comparison of the deciduous dentition in negro and white infants (A preliminary study)

Abstract

<h2>Summary</h2> The time of eruption of the firstdeciduous tooth and the number of teeth present at one year of age in Negro and white infants was compared and related to the race, socioeconomic level, and sex of the infant. From this study the following conclusionsare made:<ul><li>1.The mean time of eruption of thefirst deciduous tooth in Negro male and female infants was 27.7 and 28.9 weeks, respectively. The white male and female infants erupted their first tooth at 29.1 and 31.6 weeks, respectively. This earlier eruption time in Negro infants is possibly due to a racial tendency toward accelerated tooth eruption in this group.</li><li>2.The Negro male and female infants had a mean of 6.0 and 5.9 teeth at the age of one year as compared to 6.9 and 6.4 teeth for white male and female infants, respectively. The larger number of teeth found in the white infants at one year of age may be attributed to nutritional advantages, since it was of statistical significance only when the white infants from a middle socioeconomic level (private practice) were compared with Negro infants from a lower socioeconomic level (clinic infants).</li><li>3.The influence of sex is demonstratedby the slight acceleration in dentition in the male infants in all groups studied.</li></ul>