Patterns of dental wear in the early Maori dentition

The levels of tooth wear were surveyed in 50 pre-contact Maori skulls (23 o f them female) from New Zealand. In addition to a generalized tooth wear in dex, we evaluated occlusal wear for erosion and abrasion. Occlusal microwea r was also investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and , finally, the occlusal slope was determined at the level of the first mola r teeth. The general pattern of wear was one of severe occlusal reduction w ith no significant differences between males and females. Both silicone imp ressions and SEM views confirmed a large component (30%) of erosion. While most individuals had flat wera planes, 33% of males and 44% of females show ed reversed Monson's curves. Accentuated Monson's curves were found in 23.7 % of males. While these results confirm early studies of the excessive wear experienced by pre-contact Maori, our study shows for the first time that eroision played a significant role in the dental wear of these people.