by Matthew Law 

picture copyright Matthew Law

The maximum mesiodistal diameter (or length) of the crown is one of the most common measurements taken of teeth by bioarchaeologists. It is taken parallel to the occlusal and labial/ buccal surfaces of the crown, and is the distance between two parallel planes which run tangential to the most mesial and most distal points of the side of the crown (Hillson 2006: 261). While carrying out a study of 13 Iron Age populations in the central Appenine Mountains of Italy, Coppa et al. (1998: 373) found that the mesiodistal diameter measurements suffered from susceptibility to both intra-observer error and interproximal wear.

REFERENCES

Coppa, A., A. Cucina, D. Mancinelli, R. Vargiu, and J.M. Calcagno, 1998, Dental Anthropology of Central-Southern, Iron Age Italy: The Evidence of Metric Versus Nonmetric Traits. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 107, 371-386

Hillson, S, 2006, Teeth. Second Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

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