Genetic Basis of Dental Disorders: A Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Deciphering the relative roles of heredity and environmental factors (“nature vs. nurture”) in the pathogenesis of dental caries and diseases of the periodontium has occupied clinical and basic researchers for decades. Success in the endeavor has come more easily in the case of caries; the complex interactions that occur between host-response mechanisms and mutative microbiologic pathogens in periodontal disease have made elucidation of genetic factors in disease susceptibility more difficult. A critical discussion of the evidence for a hereditary component in caries susceptibility is presented, also from a historical perspective. Recent applications of in vitro methods for genetic analyses in periodontal research are also being discussed, with an eye toward a future in which persons who are at risk, i.e., genetically predisposed to periodontal disease may be identified and targeted for interventional strategies. The evidence for the influence of genetics in dental anomalies and malocclusion has also been discussed. The most important conclusion of this review is: while phenotype is inevitably the result of both genetic and environmental factors, there is irrefutable evidence for a significant genetic influence in many genetic and occlusal variables.