engleski

Correlation of osseal age and lifetime tooth wear in archaeological sample

Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to present a technique for analysis hard dental tissues and tooth wear using a computer software. This technique was used for age estimation in archaeological sample. Materials and methods: For the purpose of this research, the collection of skeletal remains of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) was used. The study includes 392 samples of the remains of both upper and lower jaws from 7 Croatian archaeological sites, whereas 4 of them from continental and 3 of them from coastal Croatia. The remains of bones belong to two different archeological periods, late antiquity and early Middle Ages. VistaMetrix 1.38 computer system was used on digital photography of occlusal tooth surfaces to measure total exposed area of dental hard tissues and surface of dental hard tissues damaged by attrition and abrasion. Data provided were defined in sq cm, and as such were inserted in excel table and processed statistically. The measurement was performed by one person. Results: There is a statistically significant correlation between the total teeth number and estimated osseal age (χ² = 46.3, ƞ² = 0.23, p <0.001). Total number of teeth negatively correlates with osseal age (r = -0.41, p <0.001). The total surface area of the teeth available decreases with the estimated osseal age (r = -0.39, p <0.001), while the proportion (%) of the total damaged area of the teeth in relation to the total available area increases with the estimated osseal age (r = 0.622, p <0.001 ). The proportion of affected surface in overall teeth surface increases with the estimated osseal age (r = 0.686 ; p <0.001) both in males and females (r = 0.534 ; p <0.001), previously published data. Significant tooth wear was found on all groups of teeth ; the most affected were molars and incisors, then canines and premolars. Tooth wear was equally on both sides of the premolars and molars, while only in the grup of the canines tooth wear was greather on the right side. There was no differences in tooth wear between two historical periods. Conclusion: The lifelong loss of hard dental tissues positively correlates with osseal age in both sexes regardless of historical period. Tooth wear was found on all groups of teeth on left and right side, and positively correlates with ossael age (p<0, 001). Tooth wear in right canines was higher than in left canines (p=0, 012), which can be explained by often usage this group of teeth as a „tool”. The loss of hard tooth tissues, caused by attrition and abrasive changes, now can be measured by VistaMetrix 1.38 computer system and this method is recommended for use in the assessment of dental age in forensic dentistry, and archaeological research.

tooth wear ; age estimation ; forensic dentistry ; dental anthropology

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