Turner Teeth and childhood caries in a protohistoric California Indian population

摘要

AbstractThree instances of unusual enamel defects are reported from a late prehistoric and protohistoric non‐agricultural California Indian population. The defects, consisting of irregular absence of enamel over much of the crown of single premolars, with no corresponding hypoplastic defects in the remainder of the dentition, are typical of Turner teeth. Such defects are a consequence of pulp exposure from severe caries infections in the primary dentition. Their presence is suggestive of unusually high levels of childhood caries experience for a non‐agricultural population, a suggestion borne out by examination of the deciduous dentiti