Showing posts with label genetics of hypodontia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genetics of hypodontia. Show all posts

Monday 9 January 2017

Do implants provide the best aesthetic outcome for patients with hypodontia ?


A study by Hvaring and colleagues has looked at the outcomes for patients with hypodontia and more specifically the treatment for missing teeth. They looked at a cohort of 50 patients with 6 missing teeth or more with a mean age of 26. These patients were examined clinically assessing mucosal discolouration, crown morphology, colour, and papilla index. 

Deciduous teeth showed good outcomes whereas implants had poorer results. Changes in gingiva colour was seen only for implants and occurred for all fixtures in the anterior mandible and the majority of those in the anterior maxilla. As you would expect papilla index scores were poorer for implants and conventional bridges when compared with orthodontic space closure.

A pubmed link to the paper is below 


Implants are a popular treatment modality in the management of patients with hypodontia as they provide tooth replacement without the need for adjacent tooth support or retention. Over time those working in the hospital services have seen case from 5 years or more return with either mechanical or biological complications. Patients with hypodontia may have adequate bone stock around the top of the ridge but this becomes more compromised higher in the alveolus. Over time the alveolus is likely to continue to resorb as illustrated in the above research resulting in mucosal discolouration due to the slow exposure implant threads. In such patients, who have such underdeveloped ridges, alternative tried and tested treatments maybe wiser to consider. Resin bonded bridges are predictable, efficient with good long term outcome data. Consideration for the patients long term maintenance-especially if treated in late adolescents-needs to be a significant consideration. 

Saturday 6 February 2016

Gremlin gene associated with Hypodontia ! Yes Gremlin !

As a child of the 80's I loved the Gremlins films as well as Back to the Future Indiana Jones etc. So it turns out that there is a Bone Morphogenic Protein antagonist that is known to regulate BMPs in embryogenesis and tissue development. Have a look at the abstract of some research by a group from Thailand.  

Gremlin 2 BMP

Friday 8 January 2016

Certain genes are related to certain patterns of missing teeth

I could never profess to knowing anything about genetics in any great detail ! In this graphic the two main genes in Hypodontia are illustrated. MSX1 shows a significantly different pattern of tooth loss to PAX9 which is heavily associated with the commonly missing lateral incisors and premolars. Have a read of the below article for more information.  





Thursday 24 December 2015

Is there a link between hypodontia and ovarian cancer ?



There is emerging evidence that Hypodontia is a risk marker for Ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer ranks as the 8th commonest cancer in women and only 30% of patients survive as such it is the 5th leading cause of cancer amongst women. In a recent study 20% of ovarian cancer patients had signs of hypodontia. Please click on the link below which will take you to Anna Yu's presentation from the University of Kentucky.  

Click here for a presentation exploring the link.

Saturday 24 October 2015

Is hypodontia a wholly genetic condition ?

An article in the British Dental Journal from 2007 reviews current knowledge on the aetiological basis for hypodontia as well as various types of presentation and classification. Syndromes that are associated with congenitally missing teeth are also illustrated in a table. Click on the link below for the full article. 

Hypodontia-Is it all in the genes ?