LOGISTIC ANALYSIS OF SHOVEL AND CARABELLIS TOOTH TRAITS IN A CAUCASOID POPULATION

Caucasoid populations differ from Mongoloids by having a high prevalen ce of Carabelli's trait and a low prevalence of shovel trait. This stu dy was conducted to investigate the association between the shovel and the Carabelli's traits in a Caucasoid population. The research design sought a Caucasoid population at Milwaukee of Wisconsin in United Sta tes. The Caucasoid group selected for study was the European descendan t. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this investigation, as was the association between tooth size and Cara belli's trait. Results show that males were more likely to have Carabe lli's trait expressed on teeth than females, The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After adjusting for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait decreased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait which shows an significant effect. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland L td.