The test kits have finally arrived and I have an appointment with my R4YT practitioner next Thursday. In order to be as prepared as possible I dug out my blood and secretor tests. I wrote up what I found out about my families' medical history. I looked up in the book what else I might need and some things just kind of jumped out at me:
1. I looked at my 5th tooth for the Carabelli cusp, when I should have looked at the 6th! The picture in the book is not quite clear enough on that, but I found a very good photo of a cusp here:
http://www.zahnwissen.de/images/Carb_kli.jpg  - that made it crystal clear for me. If the link doesn't open you will have to copy and paste it into your addressbar.
2. I bought a Vernier gauge/caliper which is a kind of measuring device/ ruler that looks like the letter F, with the bottom horizontal part sliding up and down the vertical part- it is really easy to use to measure your fingers with!
I will try and hold my exitement in check until Thu and see what my practitioner measures! If we both agree then there's no 'bending the rules' any more  

Yvonne, what a good idea for measuring. My husband has one of those thing-ies in the basement! Wish I'd have thought to use it when I measured my whole family! I will be interesting to see what your practitioner says hunter... or... gatherer!

I have an extra cusp on my very back top molars, not on the teeth where we're "supposed" to have them.  Neat picture, Yvonne.  Thanks.

http://www.zahnwissen.de/images/Carb_kli.jpg

There...I fixed it for you and it should come up with just a click on it now.

Debra

Sorry if I'm sounding silly but don't all molars look like that one in the picture (minus the filling)?

I only have one main molar each side up & lower as others were removed for space pre-orthodentistry.

Hi Shells, I think molars are supposed to have one bump in each 'corner'- the one in the picture has a double bump on the right bottom.

It is not an easy thing to see anyway- maybe your dentist can help out. I don't know if they record that kind of thing in your chart, but it would be worth a phone call to find out.
I myself have had years of grinding my teeth, so the surfaces are so smooth and rounded, that it it impossible to tell if I have one bigger bump or two that were grounded down to look like one!

If one has a cusp on one side, does that mean there should be one on the other side as well?

Thanks yvonneb, I guess my 3D wasn't switched on today!  

I have a son who has an interesting situation (gene) regarding teeth....his 'eye' teeth are right next to his front teeth.....making him look a little Dracula-like!  He has big teeth so there are no gaps.  The dentist said that both myself & DH are both carrying a recessive gene where a tooth may not appear...and bingo an interesting smile!  

Now that he is into his teens we have had them shaved & had the next teeth shaped which he'll keep until he is about 20 when he'll get crowns

I was born missing the permanent teeth under the second molars on the bottom.  I don't know of anybody else in my family having that (as far as parents/grandparents/cousins, etc.).  So when they did x-rays before I got braces, they decided they'd have to pull those baby teeth because I'd never lose them.  Of course, looking back I wish they'd just left well enough alone, but it wasn't my decision at the ripe old age of 11 or so when they yanked them out.  And yank they did.  The roots had grown down and burrowed into my jaw, and you could hear the roots crack all the way out in the waiting room, according to my  mother, when he pulled them.  So then, they had to put in a retainer with spacers that I had to wear for ~8 years, at which time they gave me bridges, after I'd worn braces for 5 years.  *sigh*  I wish they'd just left them alone.

Quoted from Ribbit

I was born missing the permanent teeth under the second molars on the bottom.  I don't know of anybody else in my family having that (as far as parents/grandparents/cousins, etc.).    

Two recessive genes coming together produce the result so you'll probably only see it in siblings if at all.  My daughter also has this result but not as strongly and ended up with two 'peg' teeth.  It worked out well as her teeth are not as large as her brothers so would have had a gap at the front but luckily could use these peg teeth as bases for porcelain crowns  

Thanks Yvonne for the tip about the vernier gauge - I bought one and it really works!! it enables me to settle down to being a G1 Hunter and not a dithering Gatherer as the finger difference was so minimul!

When I went to get my teeth cleaned I asked the hygienist about the cusp.  She knew what it was right away and said I didn't have it.
Jane

Well, shucks.  I didn't think about asking, and I was just at the dentist today.  $680 bucks for two tiny fillings (between teeth that were impossible to floss, so they weren't my fault, the dentist said) and a cleaning.  Good grief.  Took them two hours.  Hard places to get to--had to "sand" down between the teeth with diamond strips, he said, to even reach the cavities.

Wow, I finally reread the part about the C. cusp.  I could find mine just by feeling the inside side of my first molar on either side.  Definitely have the extra cusp....looking at the photo on p.78 of the book helped me figure out what to feel for.   I guess it just confirms that I am a definite gatherer.
Did anyone else feel the extra cusp with their finger?

So, if you have all your teeth, minus wisdoms, then the carabelli would be on the next to the back molar?

Quoted Text

I guess it just confirms that I am a definite gatherer.
Did anyone else feel the extra cusp with their finger?

my molars have been heavily worked on by caries from the past, but I might just have had that cusp......I guess it not only confirms I m a gatherer but also a nonnie with my tooth history! lol