Distribution of symmetric and asymmetric patterns of caries attack in human permanent maxillary incisor teeth: Genetic implications

Abstract

Data were analysed from the records of dental surgeons practising in three areas: the North East of England, Gloucestershire in the South of England, and Belfast in Northern Ireland. Studies were made of the distribution of caries experience among the mesial and distal surfaces of all four maxillary incisor teeth, in persons aged 15 yr and above. Some 63 patterns of caries experience were considered, ranging from the involvement of a single surface, up to all eight mesial and distal surfaces. Certain patterns were therefore symmetric with respect to the median plane and others asymmetric. Relative frequencies of all the patterns, in each of the three communities, were determined. These frequencies had similar characteristics, in each community. Distributions of caries experience among the mesial and distal surfaces were highly non-random. The data support the hypothesis that the site-specificity of dental caries at these surfaces is determined by complex genetic factors.