The final period of deciduous teeth function

Abstract

The author has observed number of present and lost deciduous teeth in 932 girls and 913 boys aged 5 to 14 years. On grounds of percentage frequencies of deciduous teeth still present in jaws of children at various ages the beginning of the “final” period is defined at age at which a given tooth is still present in 95% of subjects, similarly the end of this period as age at which a tooth in question is present in only 5% of subjects. Narrower limits for practical purposes are given as 75% and 25% of teeth present. Relevant numerical data with respect to tooth, maxilla mandible and sex are tabularized. It has been found that girls began to lose their deciduous teeth earlier than boys (the difference reaches as much as one year in case of canines). Mandibular deciduous dentition is lost earlier than the maxillar one.