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Dentition
 
 
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Dentition is the development
Tooth development

Tooth development is the complex process by which tooth form from embryonic cell , cell growth, and erupt into the mouth. Although many diverse species have teeth, non-human tooth development is largely the same as in humans....
 of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth
Mouth

The mouth, buccal cavity, or oral cavity is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and begins digestion by mechanically breaking up the solid food particles into smaller pieces and mixing them with saliva....
.

All mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s except the monotreme
Monotreme

Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young like Marsupialias and Placentalia .They are conventionally treated as comprising a single order Monotremata, though a recent classification proposes to divide them into the orders Platypoda and Tachyglossa ....
s, the xenarthrans, the pangolin
Pangolin

Pangolins or scaly anteaters or Trenggiling are mammals in the Scientific classification Pholidota. There is only one extant family and one genus of pangolins, comprising eight species....
s, and the cetacea
Cetacea

The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general....
ns have up to four distinct types of teeth, with a maximum number for each. These are the incisor
Incisor

Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below....
 (cutting), the canine
Canine tooth

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed tooth....
, the premolar
Premolar

The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the Canine_tooth and Molar_ teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant, making eight premolars total in the mouth....
, and the molar
Molar (tooth)

Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. In many mammals they grind food; hence the Latin name mola, "millstone"....
 (grinding). Mammals that have distinct types of teeth are heterodont
Heterodont

The anatomical term heterodont refers to animals which possess more than a single tooth morphology . For example, members of the Synapsida generally possess incisors, Canine_, premolars, and molars....
; others are homodont.

The number of teeth of each type is written as a dental formula for one side of the mouth, with the upper and lower teeth shown on separate rows.






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Dentition is the development
Tooth development

Tooth development is the complex process by which tooth form from embryonic cell , cell growth, and erupt into the mouth. Although many diverse species have teeth, non-human tooth development is largely the same as in humans....
 of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth
Mouth

The mouth, buccal cavity, or oral cavity is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and begins digestion by mechanically breaking up the solid food particles into smaller pieces and mixing them with saliva....
.

All mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s except the monotreme
Monotreme

Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young like Marsupialias and Placentalia .They are conventionally treated as comprising a single order Monotremata, though a recent classification proposes to divide them into the orders Platypoda and Tachyglossa ....
s, the xenarthrans, the pangolin
Pangolin

Pangolins or scaly anteaters or Trenggiling are mammals in the Scientific classification Pholidota. There is only one extant family and one genus of pangolins, comprising eight species....
s, and the cetacea
Cetacea

The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general....
ns have up to four distinct types of teeth, with a maximum number for each. These are the incisor
Incisor

Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below....
 (cutting), the canine
Canine tooth

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed tooth....
, the premolar
Premolar

The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the Canine_tooth and Molar_ teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant, making eight premolars total in the mouth....
, and the molar
Molar (tooth)

Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. In many mammals they grind food; hence the Latin name mola, "millstone"....
 (grinding). Mammals that have distinct types of teeth are heterodont
Heterodont

The anatomical term heterodont refers to animals which possess more than a single tooth morphology . For example, members of the Synapsida generally possess incisors, Canine_, premolars, and molars....
; others are homodont.

The number of teeth of each type is written as a dental formula for one side of the mouth, with the upper and lower teeth shown on separate rows. The number of teeth in a mouth is twice that listed as there are two sides. In each set, incisors are indicated first, canines
Canine tooth

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed tooth....
 second, premolars third, and finally molars. For example, the formula 2.1.2.3 for upper teeth indicates 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars on one side of the upper mouth.

The dentition can be expressed as a dental formula. Teeth are numbered starting at 1 in each group, except the premolars which end at 4. This means that the carnassials are always the fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar. Thus the human teeth are I1, I2, C1, P3, P4, M1, M2, and M3. The human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 dental formula is:

Of cat
Cat

The cat , also known as the Domestication cat or house cat to distinguish it from other Felinae and Felidae, is a small predationy carnivore species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions, and other unwanted household pests....
s it is:

The last upper premolar and first lower molar of the cat, since it is a carnivore
Carnivora

The diverse Order Carnivora includes over 260 species of eutheria mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal....
, are called carnassials
Carnassial

Carnassials are large teeth found in many carnivorous mammals, used for shearing flesh and bone in a scissor or shear-like way. In the Carnivora, the carnassials are the modified last upper premolar and the first lower molar , but in the prehistoric creodonts, the carnassials were further back in the jaw — first upper and second lower o...
 and are used to slice meat and skin. The armadillo
Armadillo

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery Armour shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths....
, being homodont, has a dental formula that is simply 7/7.

The maximum dental formula for placental mammals is:

Non-placental mammals such as marsupial
Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
s can have more teeth than placentals. The opossum's dental formula is:

In many mammals the children have a set of teeth that fall out and are replaced by adult teeth. These are called deciduous teeth
Deciduous teeth

Deciduous teeth, otherwise known as milk teeth, baby teeth, temporary teeth and primary teeth, are the first set of teeth in the growth development of humans and many other mammals....
, baby teeth or milk teeth. Animals that have two sets of teeth, one followed by the other, are said to be diphyodont. Normally the formula for milk teeth is the same as for adult teeth except that the molars are missing.

The milk tooth formula for humans is:

The kitten
Kitten

A kitten is a juvenile domesticated cat that is not fully-grown.The young of big cats are called cubs rather than kittens. Either term may be used for the young of smaller wild felidae such as ocelots, caracals, and lynx, but "kitten" is usually more common for these species....
 has 26 teeth. See also: phalangeal formula.

Other uses: Dentition in archaeology

Dentition, or the study of teeth, is an important area of study for archaeologists, especially those specializing in the study of older remains. Dentition affords many advantages over studying the rest of the skeleton itself (osteometry
Osteometry

Osteometry is the Research and measurement of human or animal skeleton, especially in an anthropological or archaeological context.In Archaeology it has been used to various ends in the subdisciplines of Zooarcaheology and Bioarchaeology....
). The structure and arrangement of teeth is constant and, although it is inherited, does not undergo extensive change during environmental change, dietary specializations, or alterations in use patterns. The rest of the skeleton is much more likely to exhibit change because of adaptation. Teeth also preserve better than bone, and so the sample of teeth available to archaeologists is much more extensive and therefore more representative.

Dentition is particularly useful in tracking ancient populations' movements, because, although all humans have the same basic 32 teeth, there are subtle differences in the shapes of incisors, the number of grooves on molars, and extra cusps on particular teeth. These differences can not only be associated with different populations across space, but also change over time so that the study of the characteristics of teeth could say which population one is dealing with, and at what point in that population's history they are.

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