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Objectives: The recent proliferation of methods of 3D model generation has enabled the development of new approaches to the analysis of dental form, function and wear. This article assesses whether Structure‐from‐motion (SfM) photogrammetry is capable of producing virtual 3D models of teeth of adequate quality for assessing fine scale surface details, such as dental macrowear patterns. Reference models were generated using a high resolution structured light scanner to assess the accuracy of the photogrammetric models generated. Materials and Methods: Dental gypsum models of the molar teeth of human individuals from St. Michael's Litten, Chichester, Post‐medieval assemblage (n = 17) were used for 3D model generation. Photogrammetry was performed using Agisoft Metashape and reference 3D models were generated using a GOM ATOS 80 scanner. Focus stacking was explored as a method of enhancing 3D model detail. Differences between the photogrammetric and reference models were assessed using CloudCompare and the quality of the surface detail was examined quantitatively using Occlusal Fingerprint Analysis. Results: Photogrammetric model generation was highly replicable and the tooth models produced closely approximated the overall geometry of those derived from the structured light scanner. Dental wear facet area measurements on the photogrammetric models differed significantly, however, from those derived from the structured light scanning reference models. Discussion Photogrammetry can create virtual dental models from which crude quantitative size and shape data can be obtained. Finer scale surface details are not accurately reproduced on SfM models using the methods outlined in the current article due to high levels of surface noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kylindra cemetery on Astypalaia in the Dodecanese, in use 750 BC to 1st century AD, contains a unique skeletal collection. Over 2,400 infant inhumations, each buried in its own clay pot, have been uncovered so far. The skeletal material from each burial is embedded within a ball of accreted earth and since 2001, some 850 infant remains have been recovered and conserved. Most of these died perinatally, but some were very premature babies and some appear to have survived for several months after birth. A study to estimate ages at death of 277 teeth from 107 infants, using microstructural growth markers, is currently underway. One immediate objective is to help resolve the enigma of why such an unusually large number of infants were interred on such a remote Aegean island. Longer term objectives are to reconstruct the sequences of development of the different deciduous tooth types, providing new standards of growth for long bones, the skull and the dentition. This paper presents an interim report on the findings from the histological study, which has analysed 68 teeth from 36 individuals so far. Five of the 36 infants survived birth, three dying within the first 3 weeks of life and the other two surviving for about 3 months. Average appositional growth rates were found to be 3.6 μm/day, and initial mineralisation was found to be well below the figures in Sunderland and coworkers' study in 1987. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of dental casts taken from living people avoids the ethical problems of research into human remains, while providing valuable information about diet and life styles. This article describes a study of tooth wear in dental casts of three different groups of Australian Aborigines. The authors describe their methods of recording and report differential patterns of wear in the different groups. Preliminary interpretation relates the wear patterns both to diet and to the use of teeth as tools in a range of cultural activities, results which are potentially relevant to other groups of hunter-gatherers, past and present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the biological effects of the Great Famine in London, England, by analyzing the teeth of individuals who survived the famine but died during the Black Death. Overview of the two catastrophes; Hypoplastic defects on the surface of an anterior tooth; Comparison between the timing of growth disturbances provided by the tooth record and the chronology of the Great Famine.