Inheritance of Bilateral Fusion of the Lower Central and Lateral Incisors: A Pedigree of a Maya Family from Yucatan, Mexico.

Abstract

A pedigree with five individualsexhibiting bilateral fusion of lower central and lateralincisors is described. It is the first pedigree everpublished presenting this condition, and the individualsaffected are the 6th through 10th cases in the literature.Bilateral fusion of the lower central incisors may be theconsequence of an autosomal dominant gene in thisfamily. Crown height and mesiodistal measurementson the permanent dentition of the affected individualswere compared to the same measurements taken onunaffected persons in their population. Buccolingual andmesiodistal measurements on the deciduous dentitionwere compared to published means for populationsaround the world. Fusion was associated with agenetic tendency towards tooth reduction, affectingtooth number in the jaw, and overall size. It also wasconcluded, as suggested by previous investigators,that fusion and gemination are under separate geneticcontrol.