Short and Broad Dental Arch in Papua New Guinea Highlanders.

Abstract

Dental arch sizes and shapes of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Highlanders (Wabag, Enga Province, 26 males and 26 females) were measured using photo graphsof dental casts and compared with those of five populations in the Pacific region (Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati, Australia, Japan). The dental arch breadths of the Wabag males and females were the largest among the six groups. The Wabag males had the shortest lengths and the Wabag females were in the middle range among the six groups. As a result, the dental arches of the Wabag people proved to be short and broad. Principal component analyses based on arch measurements showed that the Wabag people were close to Fijians suggesting that these two Melanesian popula tionshad similar dental arch forms.

New Directions in Dental Anthropology

“…Dental arch shape in Highlanders was also unique. Igarashi et al (2001) demonstrated that the dental arch breadth of the Wabag samples was the largest among six Pacific groups including Australian aborigines, while dental arch length was the shortest among them. also showed that crown dimensions were larger generally in the Australian Aborigines from Yuendumu than in the PNG Highlanders from Wabag, with differences being more evident in M2 and M3 than M1, especially in talonid dimensions, and that the trigonid, which develops early both phylogenetically and ontogenetically, tended to be relatively stable in size, whereas the later-forming talonid displayed size reduction when comparisons were made both within and between groups.…”