Observations on the dentition of the Lilliputian Aztecs / by Dr. Robert Reid.

  • Reid, Robert (Dentist)
Date:
[1854]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the dentition of the Lilliputian Aztecs / by Dr. Robert Reid. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    1 shall shortly return. The permanent teeth are, on the whole, well developed, neatly shaped, in fair proportion to the general structure of the individual, and at same time well placed, both as regards their growth above the gum, and the contour of the dental arch. There is, as yet, no appearance of the second molar in either jaw, but its situation is indicated by the flattened appearance of the gum and the space betwixt the first molar and the ramus. The form of the upper arch is somewhat remarkable, being rather narrow and pointed, yet without that overlapping of the front teeth usually accompanying what is familiarly termed the rabbit shape. The relative position of the jaws to each other, that is, the bite, has already been alluded to, and deserves special notice. Irrespective of the Assyrian lineaments marking the No.4. upper portion of Maximo's face, the re- treating lower jaw gives his profile a strange hawk-like expression. Instead of the under front teeth falling immedi- ately behind the upper, there is a clear space of ]*o-ths of an inch between the two arches when shut, such as w ill ad- mit of the thumb being freely passed up to touch tlie palate, (see woodcut No. 4). This peculiar feature might, at first sight, be regarded as a freak of nature, exhibited in a solitary individual ; but the relative position of the upper and under back teeth militates against such a view, and rather favours the assumption that the peculiarity extends to the immediate family, if not to the tribe (supposing such to exist), and that for the following reasons, namely, that while the upper jaw contains eleven teeth, all arranged with due regularity, the,under contains only seven, by which provision of nature the molars in either jaw antagonise and fit into each other with great exactness, the posterior edge of the last tooth in either jaw being in a line with that of its adversary. This feature my observation has not enabled me to trace in cases of dental irregularity or mal-arrange- nient with children in this country, such, on the contrary, tending to effect the symmetry of tire opposite arch, and destroy the regu- larity of a close-fitting bite. It is highly interesting to trace the means by which nature has brought about the antagonism of the four six-year old teeth with each other. While the upper jaw has ample room for the full com- plement of teeth from the incisors to the first molars inclusive, and which will be twelve when completed; the retreating shape of the under jaw leaves room for eight only, the remaining four, namely the canines and second bicuspids being denied a place among their fellows, and thus by their exclusion the end is accomplished, the space betwixt both dental arches at their apex answering to that which would be required on each side to contain tlie teeth wanting.