276 • Gabor Kocsis and Antonia Marcsik 



TaDLE 3. Symmetry-asymmetry relation in maxillary incisors TaDLE 4. Sexual dimorphism 



Symmetry Asymmetry Symmetry Asytnmetry 

 11 + 21 11 or 21 12 + 22 12 or 22 



159 



51 9 



7 5 



7 20 



NOTE: For tooth notation, see note to Table 1. For 

 abbreviations, see Table 2. 



Male 



Female 



NOTE: For abbreviations, see Table 2. 



SYMMETRY-ASYMMETRY RELATION 



The number of skulls having tooth malformations is shown in 

 Table 3. This number is lower than that in Table 1. For 

 symmetry-asymmetry relationships, we could investigate 

 only those skulls in which both central incisors and/or both 

 lateral incisors were present. The presence of foramen cecum 

 was more frequent on both sides simultaneously, while in the 

 case of dens invaginatus no such difference could be identi- 

 fied. Vegh's results (1974:370) are similar to ours. Amos 

 (1955:33) found 22 symmetric and 29 asymmetric cases, 

 while Grahnen et al. ( 1959: 122) observed 35 bilateral and 23 

 unilateral ones. 



The palato-gingival groove was more frequently asym- 

 metric in our material. Withers et al. (1981:42) reported a 

 similar relationship but stated that the difference is minimal 

 and therefore unimportant. 



SEXUAL DIMORPHISM 



In the case of skulls of known sex we investigated the sex 

 dimorphism of the malformations (Table 4). The frequency 

 of dens invaginatus and that of the palatal-gingival groove is 

 the same in each of the two sexes. The foramen cecum in the 

 teeth of females is more frequent, but no statistically signifi- 

 cant difference was found between the two sexes. In Amos's 

 work (1955:32) the dens invaginatus was more frequent in 

 females, but Grahnen et al. ( 1959: 122) found it more com- 

 monly in males (boys). Frequency of the palato-gingival 

 groove was also the same in the two sexes, both in our mate- 

 rial and in the studies of Withers et al. (1981:42). 



DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EUROPOIDS AND MONGOLOIDS 



Table 5 gives the occurrences of the malformations in skulls 

 of Europoid and Mongoloid types. The foramen cecum oc- 

 curs three times more frequently in the Europoid skulls than 

 in the Mongoloid ones, but the difference is not significant 

 statistically. At the same time, the frequency of the palato- 

 gingival groove was higher in the Mongoloid skulls, and the 



difference was statistically significant (p < .01 from chi 

 square tests). According to Amos (1955:31), the dens invag- 

 inatus cannot be observed in Negroes. Lee et al. (1968:18) 

 called attention to the relationship of the palato-gingival 

 groove with the races, although they do not consider it to be a 

 racial variation. Withers et al. ( 198 1 :42) found the frequency 

 of the palato-gingival groove was 9. 1 percent in Caucasians 

 and 5.2 percent in blacks, but this difference was not signifi- 

 cant. 



PATHOLOGIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE TWO 

 DEVELOPMENTAL ANOMALIES 



Schranz ( 1987:78) described the developmental anomalies of 

 tooth shape from the point of the caries, pointing out that the 

 different invaginations are accessory factors in the formation 

 of the dental caries. Fujikietal. (1974:344) reported caries in 

 15 (6.5%) and periapical lesions in 7 (3%) out of 230 teeth 

 having dens invaginatus. According to Aboyans and Ghaem- 

 maghami (1976:63), palatal cingulum pits were frequently 

 attacked by caries, sometimes causing periapical pathosis, 

 with or without clinical signs. In permanent maxillary lateral 

 incisors showing minor palatal invaginations, pulp death 

 occurs in the absence of clinical or histological evidence 

 of caries (Stephens 1953:502; Kramer 1953:504-506). 



Table 5. Differences between Europoids and 

 Mongoloids 



Europoid 



Mongoloid 



No. skulls 



119 



75 



NOTE: For abbreviations, see Table 2. 



Ziigreb Paleopathology S\mp. 1 988 



