The relationship of buccal pits to caries formation and tooth loss

It is demonstrated that in mandibular molars there is a statistically significant tendency for teeth with buccal pits to be lost premortem more frequently than teeth without buccal pits. The mandibles of a large ossuary population (ca. 1600 A.D.) are examined with regard to buccal pitting, caries formation and premortem tooth loss. A log likelihood ratio test is used to test the relationship between age and frequency of buccal pits. A G-value of 20.84 (p less than 0.025) indicates that the frequency of pits is significantly higher among individuals under ca. 18 years. It is argued that caries formation is the mechanism through which the molars are lost, given high caries frequencies that approximate pitting frequencies in their distribution.