Prevalence of anterior tooth traits among a sample of the coastal population of South India and comparative review of prevalence among the Eurasian population

The anterior tooth has various nonmetric traits, which vary between different populations. These traits serve as a valuable source of information for anthropologists and forensic odontologists, and some of these traits exhibit sexual dimorphism. Dental casts of 163 patients in South Indian population, 69 males and 93 females, were scanned and digitized, and the anterior tooth traits of shoveling, double-shoveling, curvature, peg-lateral, and tuberculum dentale were observed and graded according to the scoring system by Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS). Palatogingival groove was noted as present or absent. The prevalence of shoveling in the mandibular central incisor was 15.9 %–18.3 % and shoveling in the maxillary central incisor was 20 %–26.9 %. Shoveling was found in 24.7 %–28.6 % in the maxillary lateral incisor. The curvature of the maxillary central incisor was seen in 24.3 %–28 %. Tuberculum dentale was seen in 38.6 %–43 %. Double shoveling of the maxillary central incisor was seen in 7.1 %–7.5 %. Peg lateral was found in 8.6 % of males and 1.1 % of females, exhibiting significant gender differences. Palatogingival groove was present in 9.7 %–11.6 %. Sexual dimorphism in relation to shoveling pattern of lateral incisor and increased prevalence of palatogingival groove on the left side was noted. Apart from shoveling, other anterior nonmetric traits have not been studied widely in different populations. These traits, which show variations, and their prevalence have been recorded in this study. • Anterior tooth nonmetric traits are valuable sources of information for forensic dentistry and dental anthropology. • Variations of the anterior tooth traits are seen in populations according to ethnicity and even within a country with multiple population groups. • Shoveling is the most studied anterior tooth trait in literature. This study includes the other anterior tooth traits, for which there is a dearth of information. • Sexual dimorphism and right and left-sided variations of the traits are studied in this population. • The data and comparison of the traits in the Eurasian population aid in studies of biodistance.