Five Autonomous Communities join CENIEH's Tooth Collection Campaign

Friday 7 September 2018
The Ratón Pérez Tooth Collection Campaign, which the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH) has been organising in Burgos since 2014 thanks to the sponsorship of the Obra Social "la Caixa" and the Caja de Burgos Foundation, will this year have the collaboration of institutions from five Autonomous Communities: the Andalusian Association of Physical Anthropology (AAAF), the University School of Dentistry (ADEMA) of Palma de Mallorca, the University of Cantabria, the University of Extremadura and the University of Oviedo.

Once again this year, young and old will be able to donate their milk teeth in exchange for a gift and a certificate as an assistant to the tooth fairy and the CENIEH Dental Anthropology Group, during the celebration of the European Researchers' Night, next Friday 28 September.

Six institutions from all over Spain will be in charge of collecting the teeth: CENIEH, from 18.00 to 22.00 h, in Burgos; ADEMA, from 18:00 to 20:00 h, in Palma de Mallorca; the University of Extremadura, from 18. 00 to 21.00 h in Cáceres; the AAAF, from 18.00 to 20.00 h, in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz); the University of Cantabria, from 19.00 to 22.00 h, in Santander, and the University of Oviedo, from 18.00 to 20.00 h, in three locations: Avilés, Gijón and Oviedo.

The aim of these Campaigns, coordinated by Dr. Marina Martínez de Pinillos González together with the researchers Cecilia García Campos and Ana Pantoja Pérez, is to gather one of the most important collections of dental pieces in the world for studies of both human evolution and forensics.

"Thanks to the donors, we will be able to obtain very useful data for our research, such as the age at which the tooth fell out, the sex of the individual, their place of birth and that of their parents and grandparents, among others," says Dr Martínez de Pinillos.