# Shovel teeth?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shovel-teeth/7463>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 26, 2000, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shovel-teeth/7463 "2000-01-26T22:17:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shovel-teeth/7463/21 "2013-02-02T02:37:04Z")

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> [@Gr8Kat](#):
>
> I read recently (in my e-mail from a genealogy mailing list) that you can tell if you have any Native Americans in you family tree by the shape of your two front teeth. Feel the back of your front teeth and, if they feel curved instead of coming straight down out of your gums, then you’re part Native American. Dentists call this trait “shovelling.”

It’s also very common in Asia. So, really, it’s _possible_ indication of _either_ Asian or North American ancestry.

Do understand that not all Native Americans have shovel teeth, nor do all Asians, and the trait occasionally appears in people from other parts of the world. Statistically, it’s most common in Asians/Native Americans but it’s not exclusive to them.

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shovel-teeth/7463/22 "2013-02-02T04:11:26Z")

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> [@UncleBeer](#):
>
> …
> 
> Additionally, I think every woman whose mouth I’ve had my tongue in had curves in the back of those teeth.

> [@RobRoy](#):
>
> To “compare” shovel teeth to your own is impossible (unless you have your tongue in some one else’s mouth). …

So we should listen to **UncleBeer**.

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**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shovel-teeth/7463/23 "2013-02-02T19:48:47Z")

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This [pic](http://www.flickr.com/photos/39602184@N02/3747590190) shows the shape very well.

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shovel-teeth/7463/24 "2013-02-02T22:56:23Z")

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Apart from everything else, that’s not how genetics works. Even assuming there is a genetically determined shovel tooth trait, and assuming it’s dominant, it would quickly get diluted once outbreeding starts. In two generations, at most, only half of the descendents would have the trait. It would be reduced by roughly half each further generation (assuming no fresh infusion of DNA carrying the trait). There’s no possible way to have a specific trait that labels every descendent, no matter how dilute the blood connection gets.

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