Alternative dental measurements: Correlation between cervical and crown dimensions

Odontometrics is important in dental anthropology in a variety of applications: for the study of sexual dimorphism, biological affinity, and directional or fluctuating asymmetry in past human populations. Teeth are routinely measured by mesiodistal and buccolingual crown diameters; however, due to dental attrition is the most significant cause of missing data in odontometric research, is necessary to use alternative measurements to mitigate this problem, particularly measurements at the cervix of the tooth. To evaluate whether cervical dimensions can be used as proxies for homologous crown metrics, data were collected from the dental remains of the individuals of the ancient city of Herculaneum (79 AD, Naples, Italy). The aims of this study are (i) quantify sample size benefits of cervical dimensions, and (ii) determine whether cervical dimensions demonstrate more or less variability than crown dimensions. The results suggest that crown and cervical dimensions reflect similar, but not identical, tooth components (whether genetic, environmental, or both) and may, therefore, serve as appropriate proxies in odontometric analysis.