Prevalence of accessory tooth cusps in a contemporary and ancestral Hungarian population

Abstract

Dental morphological characteristics are useful for providing information for phylogenic and genetic studies and understanding variations within and among species. Carabelli and talon cusps are expressed in several degrees and different frequencies between humans, thus being useful in comparing and characterizing populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence and degree of expression of a Carabelli tubercle and talon cusps in a contemporary Hungarian population compared with similar findings in the dentition of skulls dating from the 11th century, the so-called Arpád-era. The data were collected by examination of dental plaster casts of 600 children aged 7-18 years (304 males, 296 females) undergoing orthodontic treatment. The dentitions of 147 skulls, dating from the 11th century, from the ancient Halimba-Cseres cemetery stored at the Hungarian Natural History Museum were also examined. The incidence and degree of expression of a Carabelli cusp was investigated for the upper first permanent molars and scored according to an eight-grade classification system. The talon cusps on the upper permanent lateral incisors were also examined. A chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. The prevalence of Carabelli cusps was 65.34 per cent in the contemporary and 34 per cent in the 11th century population (P < 0.01). The contemporary group showed a prevalence of talon cusps of 2.5 per cent compared with 40.8 per cent for the skills from the Arpád-era, which was significant (P < 0.001). These findings demonstrate that the contemporary Hungarian population is a mixture of European and Mongoloid races. The data are in agreement with linguistic evidence that shows that distant Hungarian ancestors belonged to the Finno-Ugrian family of people, whose habitats extended from the Baltic to the middle Urals.

The Prevalence of Fifth Cusp (Cusp of Carabelli) in the Upper Molars in Saudi Arabian School Students

“…The fifth cusp in the upper molars or Carabelli trait (CT) is the most commonly occurring dental morphological characteristic (Mavrodisz et al, 2007) that is useful in forensic, anthropological and ethnic studies. It has no established etiology, nor known function or clinical importance.…”

Labial talon cusps: a South American archaeological case in the deciduous dentition and review of a rare trait

“…Recently a talon cusp frequency of 40.8% in the permanent dentition was reported for an eleventh century Hungarian population, far higher than estimates for modern groups including those currently residing in that region. 37 This may suggest a particularly strong genetic predisposition or exposure to an environmental stimulus in this population and may warrant further investigation in this and other contemporary nearby populations.…”

Mandibular facial talon cusp: A rare case report

“…Various other terms have been used to describe this trait, including dens evaginatus, supernumerary cusp, horn, hyperplastic cingulum, evaginated odontome, cusped cingulum, accessory cusp and supernumerary lingual tubercle. [4] The prevalence of TC was reported as 0.55% in Jordanian,[5] 0.6% in a Mexican,[6] 2.5% in a Hungarian,[7] 5.2% in a Malaysian population[8] and 7.7% in a northern Indian population. [9]…”