Establishment of a Large Collection of Extracted Teeth for Research

Abstract

A collection of over 14,000 teeth extracted at the Prince Philip Dental Hospital since 1982 has been organized and catalogued on a computerized database management system. The computer catalogue provides, for each tooth in the collection, information on the age and sex of the patient, and the date of extraction and condition of the tooth. The catalogue can be searched according to any combination of the descriptive variables in the database record. Researchers, including visiting scientists, can borrow teeth from the central "tooth library" on a temporary or permanent basis. Further information on particular teeth (e.g., patient's medical and dental histories, dental radiographs) can be obtained from patients' charts. Establishment of this collection has greatly facilitated the work of researchers in clinical dentistry, dental anatomy, and dental anthropology.