Biomaterial Database

Hominoid dental microwear: complications in the use of microwear analysis to detect diet. 1984

K D Gordon

Analysis of dental microwear on chimpanzee molars reveals much variation that reflects jaw mechanics and occlusal function rather than diet. Observed microwear pattern differences relate to variations in molar position, facet type, and overall age of the tooth. Gradients in the amounts of shear and compression generated at different points in the molar series relative to the condyle probably account for pattern variations associated with molar position, while differences in facet inclination may affect the vectors of compression and shear, resulting in facet differences. Age-related pattern differences may be a result of surface and subsurface variations in enamel hardness. These results demonstrate that intraspecific and intra-individual differences in microwear may be extreme, and care must be taken to distinguish normal variation due to occlusal mechanics from variations due to dietary difference. The finding that microwear variations are reflective of subtle changes in occlusal forces and vectors along the tooth row might in itself be a clinically useful phenomenon.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008409	Mastication	The act and process of chewing and grinding food in the mouth.	Chewing
D008855	Microscopy, Electron, Scanning	Microscopy in which the object is examined directly by an electron beam scanning the specimen point-by-point. The image is constructed by detecting the products of specimen interactions that are projected above the plane of the sample, such as backscattered electrons. Although SCANNING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY also scans the specimen point by point with the electron beam, the image is constructed by detecting the electrons, or their interaction products that are transmitted through the sample plane, so that is a form of TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.	Scanning Electron Microscopy,Electron Scanning Microscopy,Electron Microscopies, Scanning,Electron Microscopy, Scanning,Electron Scanning Microscopies,Microscopies, Electron Scanning,Microscopies, Scanning Electron,Microscopy, Electron Scanning,Microscopy, Scanning Electron,Scanning Electron Microscopies,Scanning Microscopies, Electron,Scanning Microscopy, Electron
D008963	Molar	The most posterior teeth on either side of the jaw, totaling eight in the deciduous dentition (2 on each side, upper and lower), and usually 12 in the permanent dentition (three on each side, upper and lower). They are grinding teeth, having large crowns and broad chewing surfaces. (Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992, p821)	Molars
D009811	Odontometry	Measurement of tooth characteristics.
D002679	Pan troglodytes	The common chimpanzee, a species of the genus Pan, family HOMINIDAE. It lives in Africa, primarily in the tropical rainforests. There are a number of recognized subspecies.	Chimpanzee,Chimpanzee troglodytes,Chimpanzee troglodyte,Chimpanzees,Pan troglodyte,troglodyte, Pan,troglodytes, Chimpanzee
D004032	Diet	Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.	Diets
D000367	Age Factors	Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.	Age Reporting,Age Factor,Factor, Age,Factors, Age
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D014072	Tooth Abrasion	The pathologic wearing away of the tooth substance by brushing, bruxism, clenching, and other mechanical causes. It is differentiated from TOOTH ATTRITION in that this type of wearing away is the result of tooth-to-tooth contact, as in mastication, occurring only on the occlusal, incisal, and proximal surfaces. It differs also from TOOTH EROSION, the progressive loss of the hard substance of a tooth by chemical processes not involving bacterial action. (From Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992, p2)	Dental Abrasion,Abrasion, Dental,Abrasion, Tooth