title: Occurrence of torus palatinus and mandibularis among women of different ethnic groups.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To detect the presence of tori in women of different ethnic groups residing in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  448 females between the ages of 18-88 years participated in the study. There were 302 African Americans, 62 Caucasians, 43 Hispanics, 36 Asians, and 5 Native Americans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tori were detected in 107 African Americans (35.4%), 20 Caucasians (32.3%), 13 Hispanics (30.2%), 14 Asians (38.9%), and 1 of the 5 Native American (20%), (P = 0.328). Torus palatinus were found in 69.7% of women from all ethnic groups (P = 0.107). Slightly higher percentage was seen in the Hispanics, then the African Americans, with the least in the Caucasians. Torus mandibularis were found only in 38.7% of all subjects (P< 0.05), were more common among Caucasians, and were usually bilateral. The presence of both tori was only detected in 8.4% of the participants. There was no relationship between age and the presence of torus mandibularis (r = 0.074) or palatinus (r = 0.008).
authors.affiliation: Howard University, Washington DC, USA.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Chohayeb
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Volpe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044466:Asian People; D044383:Black People; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005096:Exostoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008336:Mandibular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D008439:Maxillary Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010159:Palate / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data