Lack of biological mortality bias in the timing of dental formation in contemporary children: Implications for the study of past populations

Objectives: Biological mortality bias is the idea that individuals who perish (non-survivors) are biologically distinct from those who survive (survivors). If biological mortality bias is large enough, bioarchaeological studies of nonsurvivors (skeletal samples) cannot accurately represent the experiences of the survivors of that population. This effect is particularly problematic for the study of juvenile individuals, as growth is particularly sensitive to environmental insults. In this study, we test whether biological mortality bias exists in one dimension of growth, namely dental development. Materials and methods: Postmortem computed tomography scans of 206 children aged 12 years and younger at death were collected from two institutions in the United States and Australia. The sample was separated into children dying from natural causes as proxies for non-survivors and from accidental causes as proxies for survivors. Differences in the timing of dental development were assessed using sequential logistic regressions between dental formation stages and residual analysis of dental minus chronological age. Results: No consistent delay in age of attainment of dental stages was documented between survivors and non-survivors. Delays between survivors and non-survivors in dental relative to chronological age were greatest for infants, and were greater for females than for males. Discussion: Lack of biological mortality bias in dental development reinforces confidence in juvenile age estimates and therefore in skeletal growth profiles and growth studies. As dental development is known to be less environmentally sensitive than skeletal growth and development, further studies should examine biological mortality bias in long bone length.