Genetic and Environmental Factors in Palate Shape
Author Information
Author(s): Giri Jamal, Bockmann Michelle, Brook Alan, Gurr Angela, Palmer Lyle, Brook O’Donnell Matthew, Hughes Toby
Primary Institution: Adelaide Dental School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide
Hypothesis
What are the genetic and environmental contributions to palatal morphology during development?
Conclusion
Genetic and non-shared environmental factors primarily influence palatal morphology, especially in the posterior region during permanent dentition.
Supporting Evidence
- Palatal dimensions increased significantly from primary to permanent dentition stages except for anterior depth.
- Narrow-sense heritability estimates for posterior palatal width and depth were above 0.8 at all stages of dental development.
- The AE model was the most parsimonious for explaining the observed variance for most palatal traits.
- Palatal volume increased by up to 135% from primary to permanent dentition stages.
- Additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors primarily influenced palatal morphology.
Takeaway
This study looked at how genes and the environment shape the roof of our mouth as we grow up, finding that both play a big role.
Methodology
Longitudinal study using 3D digital dental casts of 228 twin pairs to measure palatal dimensions and analyze genetic and environmental influences.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to lack of information on habits like pacifier use that could influence palatal morphology.
Limitations
The study was limited to twins of European ancestry, which may affect the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
Twins of European ancestry, aged between 3.5 to 17.3 years at different dentition stages.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% CI: 0.15–0.51 for area, 0.22–0.48 for volume
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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