Heterodontism

Heterodontism (from ancient Greek ἕτερος - “different, different” and ὀδoύς - “tooth”) is a variety of teeth in shape and size in the same animal.

This phenomenon is typical for many mammals and reptiles. In such animals, the teeth are adapted to perform various functions - cutting meat, crushing solid food, capturing and holding prey. For example, in carnivorous mammals, the incisors are small and sharp, the canines are long and pointed, and the molars are flattened with sharp edges.

Heterodontism allows animals to effectively chew and digest a variety of foods. This feature of the dental system played an important role in the evolution and distribution of mammals. At the same time, some mammals that eat monotonous food (herbivores) exhibit homodontism - uniformity of teeth.

Heterodontism is an unusual dental condition in which a child has not only baby teeth, but also permanent teeth. Thus, this anomaly develops in childhood, when baby teeth are replaced by the first permanent teeth.

According to dental studies, heterodontity occurs in 1.6–8% of newborns; there are reports in the literature that heterodont teeth are observed on average in every 9 children in a maternity hospital, and every year 230 children are born with heterodont teeth. The incidence of this pathology is high and depends on the age of the mother: pregnancy up to 35 years