title: Assessment of Ethnicity in Indian Population using Tooth Crown Metric Dental Traits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tooth crown dimensions vary between different ethnic groups, providing insights into the factors controlling human dental development. This present study compares permanent mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual crown dimensions between four ethnic groups, highlighting patterns of tooth size between these groups and considers the findings in relation to genetic and environmental influences.
  
  
  METHODS
  MD and buccolingual tooth crown dimensions were recorded using digital vernier calipers on dental casts derived from four different human population: Iranians, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Obtained measurements were subjected to statistical analysis. The Christian sample was found to have the largest teeth overall, whereas the Iranian sample generally displayed the smallest MD and buccolingual crown dimensions (P < 0.001). Comparisons of coefficients of variation for teeth within each class showed that the later-forming teeth displayed greater variation in MD size than the earlier-forming teeth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The different patterns of tooth size observed between the study samples are thought to reflect differences in the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to dental development between the four population. Using a standardized methodology, significant differences in MD and buccolingual crown dimensions have been demonstrated between four human ethnic groups. There were also distinct differences in the patterns of crown size between the groups, with the later-forming teeth in each type generally showing greater size variation.
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology, MR Ambedkar Dental College and Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Deepak
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Dentistry, GMERS Medical College, Gotri, Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Goryawala
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology, Sri Rajiv Gandhi College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Cholanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Yashwanth
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry, MP Shah Government Medical College and Guru Gobind Singh Hospital, Jamnagar, Gujrat, India.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Chhabra
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Oral Pathology, Sri Rajiv Gandhi College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Cholanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.lastname: Nandaprasad
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Surgery, Government Dental College, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Nishit Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Shah
keywords: Buccolingual; genetic and environmental factors; mesiodistal