ASUDAS
Definition
Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System: a standardised plaque-based scoring system for 29 dental morphological traits developed by Christy Turner II and colleagues. Scores run from 0 (absent) to 5, 6, or 7 depending on the trait, defined by physical reference plaques (and later digital versions) to ensure inter-analyst consistency.
- Full name
- Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System
- Developed by
- Christy Turner II and colleagues
- Traits scored
- 29 dental morphological traits
- Scoring range
- 0 to 5, 6, or 7 depending on trait
- Reference tool
- Physical or digital plaques for inter-analyst consistency
Common questions
How does ASUDAS help estimate ancestry from teeth rather than just describing them?+
Certain trait frequencies, such as shovel-shaped incisors or particular cusp patterns, differ statistically between population groups, so scoring a set of ASUDAS traits and comparing the resulting profile to reference population frequencies supports an ancestry estimate rather than the scoring itself proving ancestry directly.
Why does ASUDAS use reference plaques instead of a written description for scoring?+
Dental trait expression is often subtle and continuous, so a written description alone leads to inconsistent scoring between examiners; physical or digital plaques give a fixed visual anchor for each score level, improving agreement between different analysts scoring the same tooth.
Related terms
- Carabelli Trait
- An accessory cusp or groove on the mesiolingual surface of the maxillary first molar (and sometimes the second molar). It ranges from...
- Dental Morphological Trait
- A discrete or quasi-continuous feature of tooth shape whose presence and expression grade are largely heritable. Examples include incisor shovelling, Carabelli trait,...
- Phenice-Style Dichotomy
- A simplification used in some research that collapses ASUDAS continuous scores into present/absent dichotomies for frequency comparison. Useful for older literature but...
- Population Affinity
- The preferred modern forensic-anthropological term for the relationship between an unidentified individual's skeletal morphology and a modern reference population. Replaces the older...
- Sinodont vs Sundadont
- Turner's two-pattern model of dental morphology variation in Asia and the Pacific. Sinodonts (northern Asian, East Asian, Indigenous American) have high frequencies...