Digit Ratio and Dental Caries: A Sexually Dimorphic Trait

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Dental caries is the most common oral health disease affecting all age groups, races, and geographic locations. The need for the study was to determine the anatomical marker that could predict the taste perception and caries at an early stage. Aim of the study was to determine the correlation between digit ratio and caries experience in school-going children of south Canara region. An observational and cross-sectional pattern was adopted for the present study. The study was then evaluated to find out the correlation between the digit ratio that is thought to be predetermined with caries experience in children of age group 6 to 16 years. In the total sample of 2,037 children, the total population was divided into two categories, i.e., high digit ratio and low digit ratio. Of the total population, 1,112 had low digit ratio and 925 had high digit ratio. Caries experience was highest in low-risk group, followed by moderate, high risk, low risk, and very high risk groups. In all the categories, low digit ratio was affected more than high digit ratio. The study clearly states a positive correlation between digit ratio, taste, social behavior, and dental caries.

How to cite this article: Verma P, Hegde AM. Digit Ratio and Dental Caries: A Sexually Dimorphic Trait. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(1):1-6.

Related collections

Most cited references 16

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Developmental basis of sexually dimorphic digit ratios.

Z. Zheng, M J Cohn (2011)

Males and females generally have different finger proportions. In males, digit 2 is shorter than digit 4, but in females digit 2 is the same length or longer than digit 4. The second- to fourth-digit (2D:4D) ratio correlates with numerous sexually dimorphic behavioral and physiological conditions. Although correlational studies suggest that digit ratios reflect prenatal exposure to androgen, the developmental mechanism underlying sexually dimorphic digit development remains unknown. Here we report that the 2D:4D ratio in mice is controlled by the balance of androgen to estrogen signaling during a narrow window of digit development. Androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor α (ER-α) activity is higher in digit 4 than in digit 2. Inactivation of AR decreases growth of digit 4, which causes a higher 2D:4D ratio, whereas inactivation of ER-α increases growth of digit 4, which leads to a lower 2D:4D ratio. We also show that addition of androgen has the same effect as inactivation of ER and that addition of estrogen mimics the reduction of AR. Androgen and estrogen differentially regulate the network of genes that controls chondrocyte proliferation, leading to differential growth of digit 4 in males and females. These studies identify previously undescribed molecular dimorphisms between male and female limb buds and provide experimental evidence that the digit ratio is a lifelong signature of prenatal hormonal exposure. Our results also suggest that the 2D:4D ratio can serve as an indicator of disrupted endocrine signaling during early development, which may aid in the identification of fetal origins of adult diseases.

0 comments Cited 184 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Masculinized finger length patterns in human males and females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

S Breedlove, B Fane, Melissa Hines … (2002)

The ratio of the length of the second digit (2D) to the length of the fourth digit (4D) is greater in women than in men. Since androgens are involved in most somatic sex differences and since the sexual dimorphism in 2D:4D is stable from 2 years of age in humans, it was hypothesized that finger length pattern development might be affected by early androgen exposure. Human females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are exposed prenatally to higher than normal levels of adrenal androgens, providing an opportunity to test the effects of early androgen exposure on digit ratios. The 2D:4D was calculated for females with CAH, females without CAH, males with CAH, and males without CAH. Females with CAH had a significantly smaller 2D:4D on the right hand than did females without CAH. Males with CAH had a significantly smaller 2D:4D on the left hand than did males without CAH. A subset of six males with CAH had a significantly smaller 2D:4D on both hands compared with their male relatives without CAH. These results are consistent with the idea that prenatal androgen exposure reduces the 2D:4D and plays a role in the establishment of the sex difference in human finger length patterns. Finger lengths may therefore offer a retrospective marker of perinatal androgen exposure in humans.

0 comments Cited 86 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not in women.

Catriona Hurd, Dennis B. Bailey (2005)

Finger length ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have relatively shorter second digits (index fingers) than fourth digits (ring fingers). Smaller, more masculine, digit ratios are thought to be associated with either higher prenatal testosterone levels or greater sensitivity to androgens, or both. Men with more masculine finger ratios are perceived as being more masculine and dominant by female observers, and tend to perform better in a number of physical sports. We hypothesized that digit ratio would correlate with propensity to engage in aggressive behavior. We examined the relationship between trait aggression, assayed using a questionnaire, and finger length ratio in both men and women. Men with lower, more masculine, finger length ratios had higher trait physical aggression scores (r(partial) = -0.21, N = 134, P = 0.028). We found no correlation between finger length ratio and any form of aggression in females. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone has an organizational effect on adult physical aggression in men.

0 comments Cited 69 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Clin Pediatr Dent

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Clin Pediatr Dent

Journal ID (publisher-id): IJCPD

Title: International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry

Publisher: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers

ISSN (Print): 0974-7052

ISSN (Electronic): 0975-1904

Publication date (Print): Jan-Feb 2018

Publication date (Electronic): 01 February 2017

Volume: 11

Issue: 1

Pages: 1-6

Affiliations

[1 ]Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, K.D. Dental College & Hospital, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

[2 ]Professor and Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru Karnataka, India

Author notes

Priya Verma, Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, K.D. Dental College & Hospital, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, e-mail: priya.verma@live.co.uk

Article

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1474

PMC ID: 5968154

PubMed ID: 29805226

SO-VID: b478569d-134b-4c39-add6-e31f7665153e

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Digit Ratio and Dental Caries: A Sexually Dimorphic Trait

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Digitizing Fabrication

Most cited references 16

Developmental basis of sexually dimorphic digit ratios.

Masculinized finger length patterns in human males and females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not in women.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 180

Cited by 1

Most referenced authors 122