Comparative study of tooth-to-denture-base discrepancy and dental caries in Japanese, British, and Chinese skeletal remains

Secular changes in dental disorders among three populations were compared. Material used comprised 829 Japanese dry skulls and 1089 living Japanese, 1 160 Chinese skulls, and 1326 British and Scottish skulls. Prevalence of too th-to-denture-base discrepancy (the discrepancy), the frequency of carious, and carious and missing teeth, as well as the mean score of tooth attritio n were calculated. The discrepancy and carious teeth showed relatively stea dy progression in the Japanese group, the only exception being a high frequ ency of carious teeth in the Yayoi period. In the British material, the pre valence of the discrepancy and frequency of carious teeth showed an increas ing trend but there were local variations. In the Chinese group, neither th e discrepancy nor the dental caries seem to show any meaningful trend. Ther e were significant correlations between discrepancy and tooth attrition in the Japanese, and between discrepancy and carious teeth in the British. The Chinese data did not show any significant correlations, possibly because t heir economy was multifarious from pastoral to stock farming. The main dete rminative factor of the discrepancy and dental caries seemed to be the infl uence of the primary economy of the groups.