Dental Anthropological Study of the Central American Indian

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In the field of Dentistry,it has become a necessity to achieve a better understanding of both the dento-craniofacial morphology and the occlusal conditions from the dental-anthropological point of view. Previous research in this area has been carried out on the Mongoloid, using the Peruvian Indians, by the Monbusho Inter-national Scientific Research Program in 1982. Further research was conducted in 1987 by the Field Research in Mexico,using the Central American Indians as the subject. Their morphological characteristics were compared with those of the Peruvian Indians,the Japanese and the North American White.The sample consisted of cephalograms, pantomograms, dental casts, photos and records of oral examinations which were taken from 210 Modern Central American Indians and 193 Ancient Central American Indians.The findings were summarized as follows:1. Craniofacial morphology:The Modern Central American Indian showed: (1) smaller facial height and shorter depth of the cranial base and … More jaws than those of the North American White. (2)more posterior position of peri-orbital structures, and smaller values of anterior facial height and mandibular plane angle, in comparison with the Japanese, which were similar to the Peruvian Indians. (3)shorter depth of the jaws and prominence of the chin than the Ancient Central American Indians.2. Dental arch form and tooth sizs:The Modern Central American Indian had: (1)more wider dental aeches than the North American White, while sharing similar values with the peruvian Indians and the Japanese. (2)smaller incisors, larger premolars and molars in mesio-distal crown diameter compared with the North American White. This tendency was similar to that of the Peruvian Indians. (3)had smaller teeth in mesio-distal crown diameter than the Ancient Central American Indians.3. Occlusal relationship and intraoral diseases:The Modern Central American Indian showed: (1)good mesio-distal relationship between upper and lower molars in 70 percent of them. (2)higher incidence of dental caries and gingivitis compared with the Peruvian Indians. Less