# Geometric Morphometric Shape Analysis of Mandibular Post-Canine Dentition
## 4 Discussion
However, it is interesting to note that the proportion of the occlusal table to the total tooth area was statistically similar and marginally higher in females (57.69%) than in males (56.11%) [23]. This suggests that, despite having a narrower occlusal table, molars in females exhibit the same or an even greater proportion, indicating no compromise in masticatory efficiency. These findings have important implications for dental professionals and researchers, as they highlight the need to consider gender differences when evaluating dental health and treatment outcomes. [PERSON] et al. 's study also found that there was no sexual dimorphism of size seen in the second molar, which is similar to the results of our study, in which the wireframes show similar outlines in males and females [23]. The relatively stable second molar formation may be due to its formation at 7-8 years of age, when there are no birth-related changes or puberty-related growth spurts seen to influence its formation [20]. In 2014, [PERSON] and colleagues conducted a study that revealed that the hypocone (distolingual cusp of the maxillary molars) exhibits a greater degree of variation in both size and shape. Interestingly, they also discovered that the later the formation of the cusp, the more variability the tooth will exhibit [24]. This finding aligns with our own research, which showed that the distolingual cusp of the mandibular second premolar (three-cusp type), displays a higher degree of variation. In general, there is a greater degree of variation on the lingual side of the crown compared to the buccal side. This phenomenon can be attributed to several factors, including the mandible's growth pattern, which tends to favor the lingual side, the presence of permanent tooth germs on the lingual side, and the spatial relationship of other osteogenic tissues [24; 25]. A study of the hominin premolars (a primate of a taxonomic tribe; Hominini, which comprises those species regarded as human, and those directly ancestral to humans) by [PERSON] et al. (2006), showed that the primitive pattern of the premolars was predominantly rectangular, with a larger occlusal polygon and a mesially placed metaconid (lingual cusp). Seventy percent of modern homo sapiens demonstrated a circular outline with a centrally placed metaconid [26]. Both the mandibular first premolar and the two-cusp-type mandibular second premolar showed a homogenous round-to-oval configuration in our sample. Our sample also showed predominance of the three-cusp type (111/160 samples), which may represent the primitive forms of the premolar, or may be due to the overlap of the genetic influence of tooth development of the molar and premolar tooth germs. In 2004, [PERSON] and colleagues conducted a study on the dimorphism of enamel thickness in mammalian molar teeth. Their findings revealed no consistent pattern of dimorphism in absolute enamel thickness. However, when the linear size of the tooth was normalized with the thickness of enamel, the factor was dimorphic, with females having thicker enamel [12]. In our study, we utilized discriminant function analysis to determine the statistically significant classification of the mandibular second molar with three cusps (\(p=0.019\)). This tooth exhibited the highest degree of allometry among the mandibular post-canine dentition, accounting for 3.35%. These results suggest that tooth size is a confounding factor for the dimorphism exhibited by the shape of the tooth. Overall, our study builds upon the previous research conducted by [PERSON] and colleagues, providing further insight into the complex relationship between tooth size and enamel thickness for dimorphism. These findings have important implications for understanding the evolution and development of mammalian teeth. Allometry is a crucial factor in morphology, as it plays a significant role in integrating various aspects of an organism's physical structure.