Heredity may be one of the etiologies of supernumerary teeth

Abstract

Supernumerary teeth are often seen in daily clinical practice in pediatric dentistry. To investigate the role of genetics, we carried out a case control study. The study population consisted of 103 males and 184 females and their mean ages were 8.31±3.03 (age range: 3 to 18). The patients with supernumerary teeth were diagnosed by radiography. For the control groups, the absence of supernumerary teeth was confirmed by panorama radiographs and interviews with the patients’ parents about past treatment of the supernumerary teeth in other dental clinics. The presence or absence of supernumerary teeth in other family members was also investigated by the questioners. A total of 287 patients were analyzed. If supernumerary teeth existed in either of the parents, the odds ratio was 5.989. This result indicated that genetics may play some role in the occurrence of supernumerary teeth.