Studies on dentin. 2. Vestigial lacteal incisor teeth of the rat

Abstract

The presence of a vestigial, lacteal incisor tooth is described in the laboratory rat. This tooth is felt to belong to the same dental generation as the other functional teeth. Accordingly, the rat is described as having a monophyodont, first dentition containing two incisor teeth in each quadrant. These vestigial teeth are then compared with other similar mammalian teeth and are defined as transient, partially formed and non-functional. As such, they are differentiated from other transient teeth. The examination of the fossil record suggests that tooth loss is a general phenomenon in rodents, but that this vestigial tooth probably represents a condition present in forms antecedent to rodents. A critical literature review strongly suggests that the teeth of the recent rat are members of the first dental generation. The presence of such a vestigial tooth and of the postincisive diastema in the rat is felt to be an example of phylogenetic reduction and progressive retardation in the sense of de Beer's concepts. These same two phenomena were analyzed with respect to the field theory of Butler and of the Zahnreihen theory of Edmund. Placed within the context of recent data on epithelioectomesenchymal interactions, both theories were supported, and both the vestigial teeth and anodontic diastema were shown to be explicable within these conceptual frameworks.