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Turner Teeth and childhood caries in a protohistoric California Indian population
Author(s) -
Schulz Peter D.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/oa.1390020310
Subject(s) - dentition , deciduous teeth , deciduous dentition , dentistry , enamel hypoplasia , enamel paint , crown (dentistry) , population , prehistory , deciduous , early childhood caries , archaeology , medicine , geography , biology , oral health , botany , environmental health
Three instances of unusual enamel defects are reported from a late prehistoric and protohistoric non‐agricultural California Indian population. The defects, consisting of irregular absence of enamel over much of the crown of single premolars, with no corresponding hypoplastic defects in the remainder of the dentition, are typical of Turner teeth. Such defects are a consequence of pulp exposure from severe caries infections in the primary dentition. Their presence is suggestive of unusually high levels of childhood caries experience for a non‐agricultural population, a suggestion borne out by examination of the deciduous dentitions.