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The purpose of this paper is to characterize the influence of socio-economic environment on the processes of sexual maturation and the age of adolescent's menarche from the Eastern Rhodopi. Subjects of study are 1378 children and adolescents from local schools in Ivaylovgrad, Svilengrad and Lyubimets. These are 730 girls and 648 boys aged 8 to 17 years. In connection with studying the influence of environmental factors on the sexual maturation processes, interviews with parents were conducted . The survey contains 22 questions with parents' data, which were used to clarify the social, economic and professional status, living conditions of family life, etc. The results show that although genetically determinated, the processes of sexual maturation are significantly influenced by exogenous factors, and in a peculiar way they reflect the specific social and economic situation in a given geographical area at a randomly selected time period.

The purpose of the research is to analyze the body diameters in 3-6 year old children. The biacromial diameters were taken as well as the two chest diameters, the bicristal and bitrohanterial diameters in 316 children (157 boys and 159 girls) 3, 4, 5 and 6 years of age attending kindergarten in Plovdiv. The analysis shows that all diameters, with the exception of the bitrohanterial have higher values in boys. The absolute year's increment of the diameters is greater in girls. The growth velocity of the researched features is greatest at the age of 3-4 and 4-5, decreasing at different rates for the different features at the age of 5-6. The only exception is the sagittal chest diameter in both sexes and the bitrohanterial diameters in girls.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the age dynamics and specificity of the developmental processes of head features in children and adolescents from the region of Eastern Rhodope. To achieve this goal we used transversal data collected for 1481 children and adolescents. 8 head and facial features were measured by the classical methodology of Martin-Saller (1957). Based on the directly recorded features, four indices were calculated. It is a peculiarity of the postnatal growth of all cephalometric features that growth curves are not intersected. Results show that boys have higher dimensions of the features that characterize the cranial and facial parts of the head than those of girls. The dimensions of the cranial part are ahead in its development in comparison to the dimensions of the facial part of the head, as it was observed in both sexes. In both boys and girls, the width cephalometric features complete their growth earlier than the height features. The shape of the head in the children and adolescents under observation is from the category 'mesocephalic', and wider facial shapes dominate in both sexes.

Introduction. Taurodontism is an aberration of teeth that lacks the constriction at the level of the CEJ and characterized by elongated pulp chambers and apical displacement of bifurcation or trifurcation of the roots, giving it a rectangular shape. Aim. To summarize the available literature on taurodontism phenomenon in the contexts of paleodontology, evolutionary biology and clinic. Materials and methods. In order to clarify the prevalence of taurodontism in modern dentitions and the critical need for its true diagnosis and management, this review addresses the aetiology, clinical and radiographic features of taurodontism, its association with various syndromes and anomalies, as well as important considerations in various areas of expertise dental treatments of such teeth. Results. Although permanent molar teeth are most commonly affected, this aberation can also be seen in both the permanent and deciduous dentition, unilaterally or bilaterally, and in any combination of teeth or quadrants. Whilst it appears most frequently as an isolated anomaly, its association with several syndromes and abnormalities has also been reported. Discussion. It is apparent that taurodont teeth are presumed characteristic of neanderthal man and are still present as a morphological entity in modern man. The occurrences seem to have a biased racial expression in different populations. It can be seen that taurodontism has until now received insufficient attention from clinicians. No long-term follow-up studies have been published regarding treatment of taurodont teeth. Despite the clinical challenges, taurodontism has received little attention from clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]