Nothing in nature is as consistent as change.

Dentition, as a mechanically stressed part of the orofacial system, is subject to physiological wear processes that affect the occlusal surface, the cutting-edge and the approximate contact points of teeth. The reasons are abrasive food particles, tooth contacts during chewing as well as erosion. Up until the Middle ages and even further on, both the deciduous and the permanent dentition were, depending on age, subject to distinct hard tissue defects. These regularly led from normal over-bite, which develops during dentition, to a pronounced edge-to-edge bite. In dentistry this known phenomenon is widely interpreted as a pathological adaptation. Due to specific subsistence conditions and dietary habits in food intake and preparation abrasive changes can be found in the dentition of our ancestors, beginning with the history of humanity up until historic times. However, hardly in today's population. Abrasive food particles and erosion are the main factors that cause wear in dental enamel. We analyzed occlusal hard tissue changes that led to edge-to-edge-bite in chronologically scattered skeletal series from different regions in Germany. The sample consists of both males and females from varying age groups. The skulls were photographed in standardized positions and radiographically examined. The results show that dental wear is a natural, age-dependent process which does not lead to pathological changes. Crowding and contact surface caries can even widely be impeded through abrasion. Therefore dental wear is a natural process that has only been prevented by 'civilization' in the past two centuries. Edge-to-edge-bite is still the preferable occlusion in man. Copyright (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.