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HermitAndHound t1_izigfui wrote

Teeth say more about that than bones. Bone matter gets swapped out constantly and will show more signals about what the recent diet was than historic (unless it was bad enough to cause permanent bone deformations)

Enamel hypoplasia is commonly used as an indicator of "stress" during development in archeology and anthropology. It's not perfect by far, but when several children have the same sequence of defects as their teeth developed it's more of a sign of general illness or malnutrition than a single physical trauma to that tooth.

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toadog t1_izjqlgs wrote

I was told by a dentist that there was evidence in my teeth I had been malnourished as a child, but he didn't elaborate. Some years later my mother told me I had been malnourished as a child and for a time a public health nurse dropped in to check on me. I actually have one memory of the nurse being in the kitchen while I played on the floor.

I asked my current dentist about this but he didn't seem to be aware of teeth showing evidence of malnutrition. I expect this isn't covered in dental school these days in the US.

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DrRam121 t1_izl5ydw wrote

The issue is that there can be several reasons for teeth to form imperfectly and not all teeth look the same anyway. Then there's the fact that by the time you're an adult signs of poor hygiene usually outweigh poor nutrition. It's not cut and dry.

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Rowmyownboat t1_izjo0wk wrote

Malnutrition also causes the crowding of teeth, forcing misalignment and twisted teeth.

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Sekmet19 t1_izk1tda wrote

Would you be able to explain the physiology of this and how specific/sensitive this finding is for malnutrition?

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onebigcat t1_izla783 wrote

That seems like it would be hard to prove, given how commonplace braces are among wealthy populations who would probably not be malnourished.

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Rowmyownboat t1_izmrpwj wrote

That is because it is not the ONLY cause. Malnourished people grow slower as bones are slower to form. If the teeth erupt before the jaw is developed enough to receive them, crowding occurs. Most misalignment is inherited.

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