Purpose: To determine the frequency of tooth loss of individuals who lived during the nineteenth century and compare it to the current prevalence of tooth loss of an adult population in the US. 

Materials and Methods: A group of 177 full maxillary and mandibular casts from patients with restorative needs currently assisted at the University of Pittsburgh and a collection of 52 adult skulls that belongs to the University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine were examined. The human skulls were likely from individuals of lower socioeconomic status and were expected to have more tooth loss than individuals living today who can benefit from modern dentistry. Teeth that were either missing or required extraction were identified in both groups and non-parametric statistical analysis was performed. 

Results: Of the 177 casts studied, 36 had complete dentition, 20 were fully edentulous, and 121 were partially dentate. In the skulls population, 17 of the 52 skulls still retained their full dentition (p = 0.06). No skulls were found to be fully edentulous (p = 0.004). Specific tooth loss was mostly consistent between the two study groups. Overall, all first molars tended to be the most commonly missing teeth in both population groups. The casts from the current adult population had canines, lower central incisors, upper and lower left lateral incisor, lower left second premolar, lower right first molar, and  lower left second molar more frequently missing (p < 0.05).  

Conclusions: This study found that a sampling of today's adult population from Pittsburgh has equal or greater tooth loss compared to a population that lived more than a century ago in the northeast of the United States. 

Keywords: Dental Caries; Epidemiology; Dental Forensics