Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus V: Skeletal Systems: Cranium
Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed
Medicolegal use of dentition has been established on the basis of width of the pulp chamber, stage of development, eruption of teeth, and resorption of roots of deciduous teeth. This use is believed to be valid in individuals up to 20 years of age.
It is common to find decreased numbers of teeth. Most often missing are the upper lateral incisors, then the second lower premolars, the wisdom teeth, and the medial incisors, in this order. Rarely the upper canines are missing, more rarely the upper premolars and second molars, and most rarely the first permanent molars.
The upper lateral incisors may be duplicated and the development of four molars or two supernumerary premolars may also occur. Rarely, the canines are duplicated.
Deciduous teeth are sometimes retained because of the absence of the bud of the permanent teeth in the jaw. The persistence occurs most often with the upper canine and the lower second molar, and less often with the upper lateral and lower mesial incisors.
The third lower molar has difficulty erupting; frequently, teeth are anomalously rotated causing difficult eruption. The roots of the lower third molar have been found surrounding the inferior alveolar nerve. A wisdom tooth has been reported facing the second molar, crown to crown. In another case, the crown faced downward and the root upward. A typical arrangement, displacement, and retention of teeth is common. Supernumerary and retained teeth may show considerable variation in shape. Bizarre forms such as cases of "dens in dente," a tooth (with pulp) within the pulp chamber of another tooth, have been reported. A tooth has been found in the orbital cavity and others have been found throughout the mandible.
Unerupted Teeth
References
Bohn, A. (1948) Dens in Dente. Acta Oden. Scand. 8:53-80.
Bradley, O.C. (1902) Two cases of dental anomaly. J. Anat. Physiol. 36:356-367.
Canneyt, M.J.G. (1945) Dent dans la cavité orbitaire. Bull. Soc. Belge Ophthalmol. 82:123-127. Cited in Excerpta Medica, Sec. 1, Vol. 2, abstract 191, p.97, 1948.
D'Etiolles, R.L. (1851) Anomalie héréditaire des dents. Soc. Biol. Comptes Rendus des Séances et Mémoires 3:96.
Fontan, -. (1880) Sur la fréquence des dents surnuméraires chez les Néo-Calédoniens. Bull. de l'Anthrop. de Paris 3:675-677.
Fontan, -. (1881) Sur l'existence fréquente de dents supplementaires chez les Néo-Calédoniens. Bull. de l'Anthrop. de Paris 4:594-596.
Gustafson, G. (1950) Age determination on teeth. J. Am. Dent Assoc. 41:45-54.
Hurme, V.O. (1948) Standards of variation in the eruption of the first six permanent teeth. Child Development. 19:213-231.
Johnson, W.T. (1946) Unusual variation in identical twins and its etiology. Dental. Rec. 66:307-310.
Kitchin, C.P. (1949) Dens in dente. Oral Surg. 2:1181-1193.
Koski, K. and S.M. Garn. (1957) Tooth eruption sequence in fossil and modern man. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 15:469-488.
Miles, A.E.W. (1954) Malformations of the teeth. Proc. R. Soc. Med. 47:817-826.
Miles, A.E.W. (1958) The assessment of age from the dentition. Proc. R. Soc. Med. 51:1057-1060.
Morgan, G.A. and H.G. Poyton. (1960) Bilateral dens in dente. Oral Surg. 13:63-66.
Müller, O. (1945) Über die Röntgenologie in der Zahnheilkunde. Radiol. Clin. 14:10-18.
Regnault, F. (1984) Variations dans la forme des suivant les races humaines. Bull. de la Soc. d'Anthrop. de Paris 5:14-18.
Rouet, -. (1854) Anomalie dentaire. Bulletins et Mem. de la Société Anatomique de Paris XXIX(12):377.
Salter, J. (1854) Erratic vascular canals in teeth. Trans. Path. Soc. Lond. 5:115-117.
Schmitt, G.H. (1949) Dens in dente. Fortschr. Röntgenstr. 71:357.
Smith, W.R. (1907) Some rare abnormalities in teeth. J. Anat. Physiol. 41:216-220.
Sonesson, A. (1950) Odontogenic cysts and cystic tumors of the jaws. Acta Radiol. [Suppl.] 81:1-159.
Taylor, A.E. (1899) Variations in the human tooth-form as met with in isolated teeth. J.Anat. Physiol. 33:268-272.
Turner, W. (1878) Case of supernumerary upper incisor tooth. J. Anat. Physiol. 21:142-143.
Turner, W. (1900) An Australian skull with three supernumerary upper molar teeth. J. Anat. Physiol. 34:273-274.
Wettstein, W. (1933) Uber heterotope Zahnretention. Dissertation., Zurich.
Section Top | Title PagePlease send us comments by filling out our Comment Form.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 the Author(s) and Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D. All rights reserved.
"Anatomy Atlases", the Anatomy Atlases logo, and "A digital library of anatomy information" are all Trademarks of Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D.
Anatomy Atlases is funded in whole by Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D. Advertising is not accepted.
Your personal information remains confidential and is not sold, leased, or given to any third party be they reliable or not.
The information contained in Anatomy Atlases is not a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be variations in treatment that your physician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.
URL: http://www.anatomyatlases.org/