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Abstract
Dental crown variation was studied inthe four main population groups living in Malaysiausing dental casts (upper and lower) obtained from 790individuals. The aims of the study were to characterizevariation in 13 dental crown traits, within groups as wellas between groups, and to assess affinities between thegroups based on frequencies of occurrence of dentalfeatures. Using chi-square analysis and Fisher’s exacttest, the majority of dental traits were found to bebilaterally symmetrical and to demonstrate low sexualdimorphism. Comparisons of trait frequencies betweengroups revealed similarities between Malays, Jahai(Negritos) and Chinese who conformed to MongoloidSinodont-Sundadont dental patterns, whereas theIndians conformed to an Indo-European pattern.Phenetic distance analysis, using the mean measureof divergence, showed that Indians were markedlyseparated from the other three groups, while Malayswere closer to Jahai than to Chinese. These findingsbased on dental traits are consistent with historicalexplanations of affinities between modern Malaysianpopulations.
Highlights
In terms of historical migrations and interrelationships of people, Malaysia has been compared to the United States of America (Nagata, 1979) in being a home to many different people from different ethnic backgrounds
Rusmah reported that no sexual dimorphism or bilateral asymmetry was evident for this trait
The patterns of symmetry-asymmetry were similar in both sexes, except for hypocone reduction in Chinese and Jahai, and the metaconulid in Indians
Summary
In terms of historical migrations and interrelationships of people, Malaysia has been compared to the United States of America (Nagata, 1979) in being a home to many different people from different ethnic backgrounds. Tratman (1950) described dental variations between Mongoloids and Indians from the Malaysian Peninsula and Singapore. He combined Malays and Chinese into one regional group for his comparisons, while Indians were categorized as representing Indo-Europeans; his report was limited to anatomical descriptions without statistical analyses (except for a few traits) due to loss of data during World War II. Previous studies of dental affinities among Asians have revealed that Mongoloid people can be subdivided into Sinodonts, represented by Northern Asians and Native Americans, and Sundadonts comprising peoples of South-East Asia (Turner, 1987; 1990). From 28 traits used initially to separate East Asians into Northern and Southern divisions, Turner (1990) found eight traits that discriminated between Sinodonts and Sundadonts All of these traits occurred more frequently in Sinodonts, except for 4-cusped lower second molars.
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