Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, University of Bern, CH-3010, Bern, Switzerland.
Department of Pediatric Oral Health and Orthodontics, UZB - University School of Dental Medicine, University of Basel, CH-4058, Basel, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 4;10(1):1820. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58565-8.
During human evolution there has been an increase in the size of the brain and the cranium, whereas the size of the face, as well as the size and number of teeth have decreased. In modern humans, the occurrence of missing permanent teeth, namely tooth agenesis, is common. It could be attributed to a biological mechanism of tooth number reduction that has evolved during time and might still be active. Although, if evident, it would add support to this theory, the relationship between this phenotype and craniofacial size remains largely unknown. The present case-control study shows that modern individuals with tooth agenesis have indeed smaller facial configurations. For example, a 15-year-old female with no, one, or ten missing teeth would have a facial centroid size of 511.83, 510.81, or 501.70 mm, respectively. No such effect was observable in the cranial base and the cranium. Our results suggest that common gene regulatory mechanisms that have evolved over time, continue to regulate the number of teeth and facial size of modern humans in a coordinated manner. We anticipate our findings to enrich our understanding of the evolution and development of the human head and kindle future developmental research on this field.
在人类进化过程中,大脑和颅骨的尺寸增加了,而脸的尺寸以及牙齿的大小和数量减少了。在现代人类中,缺失恒牙(即牙缺失)的情况很常见。这可能归因于在进化过程中发生的牙齿数量减少的生物学机制,而且这个机制可能仍然活跃。尽管如此,如果这种表型与颅面大小之间存在关联,那将为这个理论提供更多支持,但这种关系在很大程度上仍然未知。本病例对照研究表明,确实有牙缺失的现代个体具有更小的面部结构。例如,一名 15 岁的女性,如果没有、一颗或十颗牙齿缺失,她的面部中心点大小将分别为 511.83、510.81 或 501.70mm。而在颅基底和颅骨中没有观察到这种影响。我们的研究结果表明,随着时间的推移而进化的常见基因调控机制,以协调的方式继续调节现代人类的牙齿数量和面部大小。我们期望我们的发现能丰富我们对人类头部进化和发育的理解,并激发该领域未来的发育研究。
Sci Rep. 2020-2-4
Swed Dent J Suppl. 2005
Eur J Orthod. 2024-1-1
Biology (Basel). 2021-7-12
Angle Orthod. 1977-7
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2002-7
Am J Med Genet A. 2017-4
Eur J Orthod. 2025-2-7
Int J Mol Sci. 2024-11-21
Sci Rep. 2024-3-10
Biology (Basel). 2022-11-28
Biology (Basel). 2022-4-1
Biology (Basel). 2021-7-12
Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018
Nat Ecol Evol. 2017-3-27
Arch Oral Biol. 2017-7
J Dent Res. 2016-4
Forensic Sci Int. 2015-9
J Dent Res. 2015-4-24