Longitudinal analysis of deciduous tooth emergence in Indonesian children. I. Life table methodology

Deciduous tooth emergence was investigated in a sample of 468 children from central Java. The subjects were examined every 35 days for up to 2 years. Statistics on the timing of emergence for each tooth were derived from actuarial life table estimates, and male and female survivorship curves of tooth emergence were compared for statistical sex differences. Javanese children exhibited delayed emergence compared to other populations. No overall pattern of sexual dimorphism was detected, although upper first molars emerged significantly earlier in females. A comparison of emergence sequence polymorphisms between Javanese, Finnish, and Japanese children revealed that the i1-i2-m1-c-m2 sequence is most common in all three populations, but each shows a uniquely higher proportion of one or more less common polymorphisms.