Malnutrition Has No Effect on the Timing of Human Tooth Formation

Elamin, Fadil; Liversidge, Helen M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0072274

Cited by 116 publications

(84 citation statements)

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“…Dental development in particular has been shown to be minimally affected by external factors such as disease or malnutrition (Elamin and Liversidge 2013) and thus less variation in age for a specific stage of development. Once skeletal maturity has been reached, age is typically estimated using degenerative changes of the skeleton, dental wear and (less frequently) microscopic analysis of bone and cementum.…”

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confidence: 99%

The (mis)use of adult age estimates in osteology

Buckberry

2015

Annals of Human Biology

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Context: Adult age-at-death is presented in a number of different ways by anthropologists. Ordinal categories predominate in osteoarchaeology, but do not reflect individual variation in ageing, with too many adults being classified as 'middle adults'. In addition, mean ages (derived from reference samples) are overly-relied upon when developing and testing methods. In both cases, 'age mimicry' is not adequately accounted for.Objectives: To highlight the many inherent biases created when developing, testing and applying age-estimation methods without fully considering the impact of 'age mimicry' and individual variation.Methods: The paper draws on previously published research (Web of Science, Pub Med, Google Scholar) on age estimation methods and their use in anthropology.Results and Conclusions: There is a lack of consistency in the methods used to estimate age, and for the mode of combining them. Ordinal categories are frequently used in osteoarchaeology, whereas forensic anthropologists are more likely to produce case-specific age ranges. Mean ages reflect the age structure of reference samples, and should not be used to estimate age for individuals from populations with a different age-at-death structure. Individual-specific age ranges and/or probability densities should be used to report individual age. Further research should be undertaken on how to create unbiased, combined method age estimates. 2Age estimation of adults remains one of the most complex, yet essential, aspects of human skeletal analysis (Aykroyd et al. 1997;Bocquet-Appel and Masset 1982; Hoppa and Vaupel 2002a;Konigsberg and Frankenberg 1992;Milner et al. 2008). In a society ruled by numbers, we are eager to ascribe a specific age to skeletonised remains, either to facilitate the identification of unidentified remains in a forensic situation, or to better interpret the life, death and burial of archaeological humans. Yet many methods of age estimation, especially for adults but also for non-adults, are woefully inadequate at producing point age estimates. Over the last few decades, research into the development, refinement and testing of adult age-estimation methods has expanded, resulting in a plethora of techniques, and variants of techniques, available for application, with the aim of improving accuracy and precision.Age estimation in non-adults, where dental and skeletal maturation are employed to estimate chronological age, typically produces estimates that are both accurate and precise. Dental development in particular has been shown to be minimally affected by external factors such as disease or malnutrition (Elamin and Liversidge 2013) and thus less variation in age for a specific stage of development. Once skeletal maturity has been reached, age is typically estimated using degenerative changes of the skeleton, dental wear and (less frequently) microscopic analysis of bone and cementum. All of these, except tooth cementum annulations, have only a broad relationship with chronological age (Gauthier and Schutkowski 2013;Gro...

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confidence: 99%

The (mis)use of adult age estimates in osteology

Buckberry

2015

Annals of Human Biology

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“…The timing of tooth development was similar in several groups [11]. Further work has shown that malnutrition has no significant effect [12]. Both findings underpin the validity of the use of dental age in international settings and underscore the unanticipated research and educational value that continuous evaluation (E) has provided.…”

Section: The Knowledge Translation Complexity Networkmentioning

confidence: 72%

Health Research, Teaching and Provision of Care: Applying a New Approach Based on Complex Systems and a Knowledge Translation Complexity Network Model

Brook

Liversidge

Wilson

et al. 2017

WIT Transactions on State-of-the-Art in Science and Engineering

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Despite increased emphasis on the translation of research-based knowledge into practice, studies in the U.S.A. and Australia have found that up to 50 per cent of health care delivered does not accord with evidence-based guidelines. Health research, teaching and practice have traditionally emphasised defined inputs to produce specific, linear outputs and changes in teaching and practice may suffer delays in implementation when required to overcome barriers around spheres of interest. We are exploring a new approach based on the principles of complex systems and networks. In this paper, we used a successful knowledge translation project and a case study of a natural disaster, to model the effective application of these principles to a new health knowledge translation model, the Knowledge Translation Complexity Network. Following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, there were major challenges in identifying many of the dead. Research identified that Dental Age could be used to estimate the chronological age of unidentified victims up to 20 years of age. However, at the time the existing data were insufficient for this purpose and one author (HL) undertook to lead a knowledge creation and synthesis project. The research was evaluated by peer review, published in a leading journal and was subsequently implemented into practice as an identification tool in both paper and electronic forms. Subsequently the data charts and instructions have been translated into 18 languages and are used internationally in university teaching courses as well as in disaster identifications, with feedback evaluation from users providing further refinement. In conclusion, the development of the dentitions showed the characteristics of a complex adaptive system; of emergence, self-organisation, dynamic interactions, robustness and co-evolution. Further, the Dental Atlas incorporated elements of the key sub-networks of the new Knowledge Translation Complexity Network of problem identification (PI), knowledge creation (KC), knowledge synthesis (KS), implementation (I) and evaluation (E). Investigating real-world examples in this way can both highlight key aspects for future planning and identify gaps for development.

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“…T u r k a n a D m a n is i T u r k a n a weight girls (n = 198) weight boys (n = 240) (b) (a) Figure 7. (a) Stature (centimetres) and (b) body mass (kilograms) for 438 Sudanese children between 7.0 and 10.0 years of age [117]. The vertical lines for KNM-WT 15000 ( paler solid and broken lines to the right) represent estimates of the mean, upper and lower 95% CIs for body mass based on bi-iliac breadth (49.2 kg, +10 kg) and stature (159 cm, +7 cm) [110]; and for the Dmanisi subadult (darker solid and broken lines to the left) the mean, and 95% CIs for body mass (41.2 kg, 47.6-50 kg) and stature (153.1 kg, 144.9-166.2 kg) based on humerus and femur dimensions [106].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measures of maturation in early fossil hominins: events at the first transition from australopiths to earlyHomo

Dean

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 17 to a discussion meeting issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'. Subject Areas: evolution, palaeontologyKeywords: hominin evolution, life history, dental development, incremental markings, enamel, dentine Author for correspondence: M. Christopher Dean e-mail: ucgacrd@ucl.ac.ukMeasures of maturation in early fossil hominins: events at the first transition from australopiths to early Homo M. Christopher DeanDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK An important question in palaeoanthropology is whether, among the australopiths and the first fossil hominins attributed to early Homo, there was a shift towards a more prolonged period of growth that can be distinguished from that of the living great apes and whether between the end of weaning and the beginning of puberty there was a slow period of growth as there is in modern humans. Evidence for the pace of growth in early fossil hominins comes from preserved tooth microstructure. A record of incremental growth in enamel and dentine persists, which allows us to reconstruct tooth growth and compare key measures of dental maturation with modern humans and living great apes. Despite their diverse diets and way of life, it is currently difficult to identify any clear differences in the timing of dental development among living great apes, australopiths and the earliest hominins attributed to the genus Homo. There is, however, limited evidence that some early hominins may have attained a greater proportion of their body mass and stature relatively earlier in the growth period than is typical of modern humans today.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.

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Malnutrition Has No Effect on the Timing of Human Tooth Formation

Cited by 116 publications

References 22 publications

The (mis)use of adult age estimates in osteology

The (mis)use of adult age estimates in osteology

Health Research, Teaching and Provision of Care: Applying a New Approach Based on Complex Systems and a Knowledge Translation Complexity Network Model

Measures of maturation in early fossil hominins: events at the first transition from australopiths to earlyHomo

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