The depth of the lingual fossa in permanent maxillary incisors of East Greenland Eskimos: I. Statistical distribution and fluctuating dental asymmetry

Abstract

Aas, I. H. M. the depth of the lingual fossa in permanent maxillary incisors of East Greenland Eskimos. I. Statistical distribution and fluctuating dental asymmetry. Acta Odontol. Scand. 1982, 40, 229–234

Maxillary incisor lingual fossa depth was measured in East Greenland Eskimos. It was shown that the statistical distribution for the trait may vary from population to population, from tooth type to tooth type and between the sexes. Examination of statistical distribution should be a part of studies giving detailed statistical analysis of a trait. the statistical distribution is probably compatible with a hypothesis of polygenic inheritance. the correlations across the midline were higher for I₁ than for I₂, and I₁ to I₂ correlations were lower than across midline correlations for both I₁ and I₂. It was shown that the degree of fluctuating asymmetry may vary from one dental trait to another. for lingual fossa depth no population variation in fluctuating asymmetry could be demonstrated, in spite of obvious differences in environmental conditions for the populations compared. No sex differences in fluctuating asymmetry were found.