Talk:Denticle

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Primary topic

@A2soup: as you seem to be knowledgeable on the subject matter here, would you consider either of the two entries (probably the pulp stone, based on the incoming links) to be the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for denticle? If so, we would have a TWODAB situation and could make this page into a redirect. And I think either way I'll try to start fixing up the incoming links. -- Fyrael (talk) 18:58, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

@Fyrael: So this is kind of tricky because "denticle" (Latin for "little tooth") is sometimes used as a general dictionary word in biology to refer to pretty much any tooth-like or bristle-like structure. But it also has several specific usages that warrant their own articles (or at least sections). One particularly common usage that warrants its own description are the dermal denticles of cartilaginous fish, which is currently a redirect to Fish scale#Placoid scales. I would say the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC cannot be decided between the general usage and dermal denticle. The other two uses - Pulp stone (tooth) and a dinosaur tooth feature (see below) - do not seem to be primary topics, but I also know less about those uses, so I may be biased.

Re fixing incoming links,I have resolved all denticle links that refer to dermal denticle by pointing them at that redirect, so I think that case is resolved. All the links to this page that remain fall into two categories:

1. A feature of dinosaur teeth, apparently (definitely distinct from Pulp stone (tooth). I have no idea what this is, but it seems to be a sort of serration rather than a tooth or bristle-like structure. This likely warrants its own article (something like Denticle (dinosaur tooth)), and I am looking into it.
2. The general use of the term to refer to any tooth-like or bristle-like structure on an animal that is not specifically a dermal denticle or dinosaur tooth feature. My plan was to not resolve these links, since the sentence at the top of this page is about all we can say in these cases. Is this an acceptable solution?

Finally, I think Pulp stone (tooth) is definitely not the primary topic here, although my experience is more with biology than dentistry, so perhaps I am biased. It is worth noting that of the dental sources mentioning "denticle" I've seen, most use "pulp stone" primarily and all at least mention it, while the biology use of "denticle" has no substitute. I did not find any links to denticle that could be resolved to Pulp stone (tooth). The large number of incoming links to Pulp stone (tooth) is an artifact of the widespread transclusion of Template:Oral pathology.

Let me know what you think of how I have been sorting this out, and if you have any questions or suggestions for how I could go about it better. A2soup (talk) 19:32, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

An update: I have created Denticle (tooth feature) (which I discussed above) and pointed all of the applicable links to it. The remaining links to denticle use it in the general sense, although there are likely other specialized uses with their own particular meaning (e.g. in entomology). Is it okay to maintain links to a dab page that gives a general definition as its first line? Or should the links go to Wikitionary instead, or perhaps be removed and replaced a clarifying appositive in the article? A2soup (talk) 05:55, 11 February 2016 (UTC)