The caries-attrition competition |
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Authors: | G J R Maat E A Van der Velde |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Anatomy and Embryology, University of Leiden, 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands;(2) Department of Medical Statistics, University of Leiden, 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands;(3) Present address: Department of Anatomy. Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 24923, 13110, Kuwait |
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Abstract: | Contradictory reports on the interreation of caries and attrition concerning their destructive activity at the occlusal surface
of teeth required more investigation. Some suggested that the abrasive action of attrition worked against the progress of
decay. Others proposed that attrition facilitated the development of caries in dentine exposed due to the dental wear. A comparison
of the condition of teeth in western societies from an intermediate stage, with the preceding period characterized by excessive
attrition, and with the following period of ongoing reduction of dental wear, might elucidate the mutual relationship. For
this reason the almost complete dental assemblage of fifty men, whalers buried during their short sojourn in the Arctic in
the 17th and 18th centuries at a Dutch whaling station, and the data of their contemporaries, were evaluated. The results
confirmed the proposition that the rise in caries incidence from (pre-) medieval times on, was associated with an ongoing
fall of dental attrition. Within this sample of an intermediate phase, one sees that the percentage of carious molars decreases
considerably when the degree of dental wear increases. Besides, at the occlusal surface the decay was almost exclusively located
in the natural fissures and pits of teeth, not in the exposed dentine due to wear. These findings strongly suggest a competitive
relationship between progress of caries and attrition. The best impression of the attrition rate is gained by linkage of degree
of dental attrition (i.e. functional age) to age at death. The wide age ranges fitting to the degrees of molar wear make it
hazardous to use attrition for age determination. |
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Keywords: | Caries Dental attrition Assessment of age Diet Statistical analysis |
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