Physical anthropology and the dental and medical specialties.

Abstract

The rise of two sub-specialties in Physical Antrhopology traces back to the Anatomy Departments of Schools of Medicine in Germany and France during the nineteenth century. The study of human diversity in bones and bodies was largely by medically-trained anatomists. There developed Medical Antropology and Dental Anthropology, employing osteometry and craniometry on the skeleton, somatometry and cephalometry on the living body. As a result cross-sectional studies gave way to longitudinal studies and X-ray techniques were added to purely mensurational procedures. In Medical Anthropology the specialties most directly concerned are pediatrics, plastic surgery, endocrinology, and orthopaedics. In Dental Anthropology the specialties most directly concerned are pedodontics, orthodontics, oral surgery, and prosthodontics. The contributions of Physical Anthropology to each is discussed.