state the importance of dental formula
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Answer:
The method of expressing or describing the total number of teeth in man and animals according to the arrangement is termed as the Dental Formula. This formula is expressed using letters and figures. The letters used in this formula are based on the 4 types of teeth like– Incisor, Canine, Premolar, and Molar.
The Dental Formula is expressed as:
(The number of each type of teeth in the upper jaw) / (The number of teeth in one side of the lower jaw)
Dental Formula = = (2 incisors 1 canine 2 premolar and 3 molar) / (2 incisors 1 canine 2 premolar and 3 molar)
Humans have two dental formulae:
The primary dentition (20 teeth): I 2/2 C 1/1 M 2/2 = 10
The permanent dentition (32 teeth): I 2/2C 1/1 P 2/2 M 3/3 = 16
Among all other mammals, both humans and apes have similar sets of teeth and dental formulae.
Dental Formulae of Animals
Similar to humans, the dental formulae of various animals differ from juveniles to adults.
Dental formula of Dog
Dogs are omnivores, which means they consume both plants and animals. The dental formula for Dog is — 2 x (3142 /3143) = 42 teeth. = (6 incisors 2 canine 8 premolar and 4 molar) / (6 incisors 2 canine 8 premolar and 6 molar) = 42 teeth.
Dental formula of Cat
The dental formula for Cat is –2 x (3131 / 3121) = 30 teeth. = (6 incisors 2 canine 6 premolar and 2 molar) / (6 incisors 2 canine 4 premolar and 2 molar) = 30 teeth.
Dental formula of Cattle
Cattles do not have canines and upper incisors. The dental formula for cattle is 2 x (033 /433) = 32 teeth. = (0 incisors 6 premolar and 6 molar) / (8 incisors 6 premolar and 6 molar) = 32 teeth.
Do you know? In mammals especially, the number of teeth in both the jaws varied with respect to their food habit. However, it is constant for a particular species.
When we represent the number of teeths according to their kind by any sort of equation, it is known as Dental Formula.
Now how to write the formula?
It is the formula showing the no. of teeths in one half of the upper/lower jaw.
It is separated (i.e. upper and lower jaw) by a horizontal line which is similar to that of a fraction in mathematics.
The no. of teeth shown in the formulae multiplied by 2, gives the total no. of teeth in a species.
Dental formula of Human.
CHILD (milk teeth) - 2 1 0 2 2 1 0 2
ADULTS - 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 3
Here:
Here you can see teeth in upper half jaw is 2 + 1 + 0 + 2 = 5. The total no. of teeth in upper jaw is 5 × 2 = 10. And similarly total no. of teeth in child = 10 × 2 ( both jaws) = 20.
In this way, we can find the total no. of teeth in all organisms by the help of given Dental Formula.
Dental formula for more animals:
Dog - 3 1 4 2 3 1 4 3
Cat - 3 1 3 1 ∣ 3 1 2 1
Cow - 0 0 3 3 ∣ 1 0 2 3
Elephant - 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Note!!
The no. is arranged with correspondence with the kind of teeth in order of Incisors, Cannines, Pre molars, Molars in one half jaw in each row.