Taurodontism part 1: history, aetiology and molecular signalling, epidemiology and classification

Initially, taurodonts were referred to as prismatic or cylindrical teeth before the term ‘taurodont’ was coined.¹ In 1908, Gorjanovic-Kramberger was the first to describe Taurodontism.² Later, in 1913, Sir Arthur Keith invented the term ‘Taurodontism’ for this morphological anomaly. The term taurodont is derived from a combination of Latin ‘tauros’ meaning bull and Greek ‘odonto’ meaning tooth, collectively known as a bull tooth.³ This condition is characterized by teeth lacking cervical constriction at the amelocementary junction with vertically enlarged pulp chambers, apical displacement of furcation and short roots (Figure 1).³

Taurodontism dates back to as early as the Neanderthals race (the Ice Age). This condition has been commonly observed in the fossil remains belonging to the Neanderthal hominids discovered in 1899 in Croatia (Figure 2). Neanderthals, a now extinct group of fossil hominins, were widespread across Europe from 200,000 until around 35,000 years ago.⁴ They were all known to have taurodont molar teeth − probably as a pleiotropic trait in common with many other dental and non-dental traits that were unique to them. There is a 70,000-year-old anthropological specimen belonging to the Krapina Neanderthals that shows taurodontism, making this anomaly a characteristic of a primitive pattern.^{5, 6}