Technical note: An in vitro study of dental microwear formation using the BITE Master II chewing machine. Issue 4 (26th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hua, Li‐Cheng; Brandt, Elizabeth T.; Meullenet, Jean‐Francois; Zhou, Zhong‐Rong; Ungar, Peter S.
• Is Part Of: American journal of physical anthropology. Volume 158:Issue 4(2015)
• Page Start: 769
• Page End: 775
• Publication Date: 2015-08-26
• Subjects: tooth wear etiology -- diet reconstruction -- mastication; Physical anthropology -- Periodicals; Anthropology -- Periodicals; Anthropologie physique -- Périodiques; 599.9
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22823
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-9483

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Dental microwear has been used for decades to reconstruct the diets of fossil hominins and bioarchaeological populations. The basic theory has been that hard‐brittle foods (e.g., nuts, bone) require crushing and leave pits as they are pressed between opposing cheek‐tooth surfaces, whereas soft‐tough foods (e.g., grass blades, meat) require shearing and leave scratches as they are dragged along opposing surfaces that slide past one another. However, recent studies have called into question the efficacy of microwear as an indicator of diet. One issue has been the limited number of in vitro studies providing empirical evidence for associations between microwear pattern and chewing behavior. We here describe a new study using a chewing simulator, the BITE Master II, to examine the effects of angle of approach between opposing teeth and food consistency on microwear surface texture. Results indicate that opposing teeth that approach one another: 1) perpendicular to the occlusal plane (crushing) result in pits; 2) parallel to the occlusal plane (shearing) result in striations in the direction of movement; and 3) oblique to the occlusal plane (45°) result in both striations and pits. Results further suggest that different food types and abrasive loads affect the propensity to accumulate microwear features independent of feature shapes. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:769–775, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.