Compensatory tooth size interactions between early and later developing teeth within the same tooth class were empirically evaluated in a sample of 125 study casts of Caucasoid children. Mean buccolingual and mesiodistal diameters for first and second molars, pre-molars, and incisors were calculated, and those first developing teeth that were either larger or smaller than the mean were identified. Pearsonian correlation coefficients and chi-square tests revealed highly significant positive correlations between smaller or larger early developing teeth and their later developing neighbors. This total lack of compensatory tooth size interaction was also confirmed when outsized teeth (larger or smaller than one standard deviation from the mean) were used. Similar results were obtained when tooth size was corrected for arcade length, hence allowing for the rejection of Sofaer's model of compensatory tooth size interaction.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arya, B.S.; Savara, B.S.; Thomas, D.; and Clarkson, Q. (1974): Relation of Sex and Occlusion to Mesiodistal Tooth Size, Am J Orthod66:479-486.
2.
Bader, R.S. (1965): Heritability of Dental Characters in the House Mouse, Evol19:378-384.
3.
Bailey, D.W. (1956): A Comparison of Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Shape of the Axis in Mice, Genet41:207-222.
4.
Bailit, H.L. and Friedlander, J.S. (1966): Tooth Size Reduction : A Hominid Trend, Am Anthrop68:665-672.
5.
Brace, C.L. (1967): Environment, Tooth Form and Size in the Pleistocene , J Dent Res46:809-816.
6.
Brace, C.L. (1980): Australian Tooth Size Clines and the Death of a Stereotype, Curr Anthrop21:141-153.
7.
Downie, N.M. and Heath, R.W. (1983): Basic Statistical Methods. Cambridge: Harper and Row.
8.
Garn, S.M.; Lewis, A.B.; and Kerewsky, R.S. (1966): The Meaning of Bilateral Asymmetry in the Permanent Dentition, Angle Ortho36:55-62.
9.
Garn, S.M. and Lewis, A.B. (1970): The Gradient and Pattern of Crown Size Reduction in Simple Hypodontia, Angle Ortho40 :51-58.
10.
Gould, S.J. and Garwood, R.A. (1969): Levels of Integration in Mammalian Dentition, Evol23:276-300.
11.
Grewal, M.S. (1962): The Development of an Inherited Tooth Defect in the Mouse, J Embryol Exp Morphol10:202-211.
12.
Grüneberg, H. (1951): The Genetics of a Tooth Defect in the Mouse, Proc R Soc (B)138:437-451.
13.
Hampe, A. (1960): La Competition entre les Elements Osseux du Zengopode de Poulet, J Embryol Exp Morphol8:241-245.
14.
Joysey, K.A. (1959): A Study of Variation and Relative Growth in the Blastoid Orbitremites, Phil Trans R Soc Lond (B)242:99-125.
15.
Kolakowski, D. and Bailit, H.L. (1981): A Differential Environmental Effect on Human Anterior Tooth Size, Am J Phys Anthrop54:377-381.
16.
Kurten, B. (1967): Some Quantitative Approaches to Dental Microevolution , J Dent Res46:817-828.
17.
Lavelle, C.L.B. (1972): Maxillary and Mandibular Tooth Size in Different Racial Groups and in Different Occlusal Categories, Am J Orthod61:29-37.
18.
Le Bot, P.; Gueguen, A.; and Salmon, D. (1980): Congenital Defects of the Upper Lateral Incisors and the Morphology of Other Teeth in Man, Am J Phys Anthrop53:479-486.
19.
Odell, G.; Oster, G.; Burnside, B.; and Alberch, P. (1980): The Mechanical Basis of Morphogenesis, Dev Biol85:1-17.
20.
Mosiman, J.E. (1965): Variation and Relative Growth in the Plastral Scutes of the Turtle, Misc Publ Mus Zool Univ Michigan97:1-43.
21.
Raup, C.M. (1968): Theoretical Morphology of Echinoid Growth, J Palaeontol42:50-63.
22.
Rensch, B. (1969): Evolution Above the Species Level. New York: Columbia University Press, p. 419.
23.
Sanin, C. and Savara, B.S. (1971): An Analysis of Permanent Mesiodistal Crown Size , Am J Orthod59:488-500.
24.
Sciulli, P.W. (1979): Size and Morphology of the Permanent Dentition in Prehistoric Ohio Valley Amerindians, Am J Phys Anthrop50:615-628.
25.
Seegmiller, R.; Fraser, E.; and Clarke, F. (1977): Mandibular Growth Retardation as a Cause of Cleft Palate in Mice Homozygous for the Chondrodysplasia Gene, J Embryol Exp Morphol38:227-238.
26.
Sofaer, J.A. (1969): Aspects of the Tabby-crinkled Downless Syndrome, I. The Development of Tabby Teeth, J Embryol Exp Morphol22:181-205.
27.
Sofaer, J.A. (1973): A Model Relating Developmental Interaction and Differential Evolutionary Reduction of Tooth Size, Evol27 :427-434.
28.
Sofaer, J.A.; Bailit, H.L.; and Maclean, C.J. (1971 a): A Developmental Basis for Differential Tooth Reduction during Hominid Evolution, Evol25:509-517.
29.
Sofaer, J.A.; Chung, C.S.; Niswander, J.D.; and Runck, D.W. (1971 b): Developmental Interaction, Size and Agenesis among Permanent Maxillary Incisors, Hum Biol43:36-45.
30.
Smith, P. (1982): Dental Reduction: Selection or Drift? In: Teeth, Form, Function and Evolution, B. Kurten, Ed. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 366-380.
31.
Townsend, G.C. and Brown, T. (1980): Dental Asymmetry in Australian Aboriginals, Hum Biol52:661-673.
32.
Van Valen, L. (1962): Growth Fields in the Dentition of Peromyscus, Evol16:272-277.
33.
Wessels, N.K. (1982): A Catalogue of Processes Responsible for Metazoan Morphogenesis. In: Evolution and Development, J.T. Bonner, Ed., Berlin: Springer, pp. 115-154.
34.
Wolpoff, M. (1969): The Effects of Mutations under Conditions of Reduced Selection, Soc Biol16:11-23.
