Environmental Influence on Dental Morphology

Development is a complex phenomenon where the forming phenotype interacts with genetic and environmental inputs. Teeth are an important model for developmental studies and their development has been thoroughly investigated. However, despite of an extensive literature on the genetics of dental development, no studies have yet focused on the environmental influences on dental morphology. Here we aim to test whether and to what extent the environment plays a role in producing morphological variation in human teeth. We selected a sample of modern human skulls and used dental enamel hypoplasia as an environmental stress marker to identify two groups with different stress levels, referred to as SG (“stressed” group) and NSG (“non-stressed” group). We collected data on the occurrence and the relative development of 15 morphological traits (5 for each molar) on upper molars using a standard methodology commonly used in dental anthropology (ASU-DAS system) and then we compared the frequencies of the traits in the two groups. Overall, the results suggest that: (i) stressors like malnutrition and/or systemic diseases have a significant effect on upper molar morphology; (ii) stress generates a developmental response which increases the morphological variability of the SG; (iii) the increase in variability is directional, since individuals belonging to the SG have increased cusp dimensions and number. These results are consistent with the expectations of the morphodynamic model of dental development (Jernvall, 1995).