An Odontometric Study of Five Contemporary Western United States Indian and Alaskan Eskimo Groups

• Main Author: Matis, John A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: TheScholarsRepository@LLU: Digital Archive of Research, Scholarship & Creative Works 1967
• Subjects: Anatomy; Design of Experiments and Sample Surveys; Investigative Techniques; Orthodontics and Orthodontology; Race and Ethnicity; Hautala; Indian; Koski; eskimo*
• Online Access: https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/2184; https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/context/etd/article/3122/viewcontent/Matis__John_A.pdf

The morphologic characteristics of the oral cavity in five contemporary Western Indian and Alaskan Eskimo groups have been investigated by the use of study models of the dental archs. The sample consisted of 216 individuals, including 44 Navajos, 43 Apaches, 40 Papagos, 42 Pimas and 47 Alaskan Eskimos. The first purpose of the study was to determine the extent of investigator error. This was accomplished by remeasuring many morphologic traits of the dentition in 125 Indians which had previously been measured by different investigators using the same study models. It was found that investigator error can be significant, even in objective type measurement, confirming the work of Kuzma and Zwemer. The second purpose of the study was to determine the possibility of differentiating between these five groups on the basis of their dentition. By utilizing nine separate measurements of the models, it was found that with a stepwise discriminate analysis, individuals within the four Indian tribes could be properly classified by group 60% of the time. The Alaskan Eskimo can be properly classified, by only the use of study models, 100% of the time in both group and sex. Overall, the sex of the individuals whose study models are measured, can be accurately determined at a 100% incidence. The third purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the specific traits of the "Mongoloid Master Pattern", as proposed by Moorrees, are found in these five groups. The four Indian tribes had an average shovel depth of over 1 mm, with a high incidence of occurrence, to conform to the pattern. The Eskimos had comparatively less shovel, but a large smooth concavity on the lingual of the incisors, without mesial or distal marginal ridges. As Koski and Hautala (1952) found a 76% incidence of shoveling in their Caucasian sample, it would appear to be more proper to describe a larger depth of shoveling in Mongoloids rather than a larger incidence of occurrence, although it technically is true. All of the five groups studied closely ...