Sexual dimorphism in dentition mineralization.
This study determined for 121 boys and 111 girls of the serial experimental group of the Burlington Growth Centre the age, time interval and age sequence of 14 stages of mineralization of all tooth types. The two sexes differed significantly in the age at which the stages of tooth mineralization appeared, and in the length of the interstage intervals. In the canines, there was maximum sex difference in mineralization, which was almost 20 per cent and resulted from a delay in the boys. Changes in sequence of mineralization were due to delay rather than to acceleration. Sex differences in tooth mineralization manifested themselves before puberty, and mineralization was not accelerated at puberty. In contrast, post-pubertal mineralization of third molars appeared to be accelerated in both sexes and occurred earlier in the boys.
D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003481:Cuspid / Q000254:growth & development; D003817:Dentition / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D014074:Tooth Calcification; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000254:growth & development