Erosive Tooth Wear, Wine Intake, and Genetic Variation in COMT and MMP2.

Introduction: Erosive tooth wear (ETW) is a multifactorial condition of increasing prevalence in the younger population. This study aimed to explore the association between different ETW phenotypes with MMP2 and COMT single-nucleotide variants and selected environmental factors.

Methods: Saliva samples, erosive wear, and dental caries experience data and dietary/behavioral information from 16- to 18-year-old patients (n = 747) were used.

Polymorphisms associated with oral clefts as potential markers for oral pre and malignant disorders.

Objective: To investigate whether genes in the Wnt pathway, which have been previously associated with both oral clefts and oral squamous cell carcinoma, are also associated with oral potentially malignant disorders (leukoplakia, erythroplakia and lichen planus).

Materials And Methods: Case-control study: Dataset consisted of clinical information linked to DNA samples from affected subjects diagnosed with oral potential malignant disorders and oral cancer and their matched controls. Individual samples, clinical history, and potential risk factors were obtained through the Dental Registry and DNA Repository project of the School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh.

Coast-or Inland Residence and Differences in the Occurrence of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate.

Objetive: To analyze if differences in lifestyle and environment between coastal and inland areas are associated with differences in frequency of orofacial cleft types.

Design: Populational cross-sectional study.

Setting: All live borns with orofacial cleft registered at Brazilian Live Birth Information System between 1999 and 2020.

Molar-incisor hypomineralization in a cohort of individuals born with cleft lip and palate.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the frequency of molar-incisor hypomineralization (MIH) in individuals born with cleft lip and or cleft palate.

Settings And Sample: Three hundred eighty-six individuals born with cleft lip and/or palate before orthodontic treatment.

Methods: All the individuals were submitted to a clinical examination and intraoral standardized photos.

CLEFT RR- New app to Calculate Recurrence Risk in Cleft lip and Palate.

Objective: To describe the Cleft Recurrence Risk (Cleft RR) App, designed to be used on genetic counseling for cleft lip and/ or palate.

Design: A validation study, single cohort.

Setting: Tertiary care children's Hospital.

Chapter 4: Development Defects of Enamel and Dentine and Coronal Caries.

The development of the human dentition is prone to disruption due to its delicate and complex nature - including variations in tooth number and anatomical form and in the characteristics of enamel, dentine, and cementum. This chapter will focus on developmental defects of dental enamel (DDE) and dentine (DDD), which can be associated with considerable treatment burden on an individual, often related to the change in dental hard tissue characteristics in those at increased caries risk. DDE are prevalent and can be related to genetic conditions such as amelogenesis imperfecta and environmental challenges such as direct physical trauma to the developing tooth or systemic insults during the different phases of amelogenesis.

Association between molar hypomineralization, genes involved in enamel development, and medication in early childhood: A preliminary study.

Background: Molar hypomineralization (MH) is defined as a multifactorial condition, and thus, its presence may be defined by interactions between environmental and genetic factors.

Aim: To evaluate the association between MH, genes involved in enamel development, and the use of medication during pregnancy in early childhood.

Design: One hundred and eighteen children, 54 with and 64 without MH, were studied.

COMT rs4818 less common allele is associated with psychological and psychiatric worse indicators in a cohort of individuals born with cleft lip and palate.

Objective: Individuals born with cleft lip and palate may face difficulties in speech function, nutrition, facial aesthetics, and long-term care. These difficulties may increase the risk of psychological and psychiatric diseases. This work aimed to test if the variant allele of COMT was carried more frequently among individuals that have psychological and psychiatric outcomes within a cohort of patients born with cleft lip and palate.

Fluoride Toxicity.

Fluoridation of the drinking water is one of the most impactful public health interventions ever done. Dental caries experience importantly decreased in all parts of the world that adopted the intervention. Implementation of fluoridation of the drinking water to populations has always been the focus of criticism, and these discussions often focus on the safety of the intervention.

Genomic Predictors of Caries Experience and Erosive Tooth Wear Affection.

The field of genomics was launched when the mapping of DNA in humans and other species was accomplished. A new area began for the integrated study of all the genes in an organism, and in the case of humans, the understanding of the results of related biomedical interventions that can be tailored to benefit a particular individual. The market for direct-to-consumer genetic testing is growing, and the opportunity exists to add genetic variation relevant to oral health in general, and to dental caries and erosive tooth wear in particular, to these panels of variants that aim to inform the public regarding their own health risks.

Host Response to Adhesive Restorative Dental Treatment.

When dental caries or erosive tooth wear lesions progress into dentin, the speed of their progression into the pulp will be modulated in part by the physiology of the dentin-pulp complex. In some individuals, this physiology allows for a quicker progression of the lesions. Research on the longevity of dental restorations has focused almost solely on the technical aspects needed to improve the adhesive properties and longevity of the restorations.

Progression of Caries or Erosive Tooth Wear Lesions from the Host Standpoint.

When dental caries or erosive tooth wear lesions progress into dentin, the speed of their progression into the pulp will be modulated in part by the quality of the dentin physiology of the tooth. Some individuals may have dentin that allows for quicker progression of lesions, and therefore being more susceptible to the formation of periapical lesions, or even being more prone to loss of extensive restorations. This chapter discusses the results of the initial studies exploring phenotypes that consider manifestations of deep caries or erosive lesions in dentin.

Initiation of Caries or Erosive Tooth Wear Lesions from the Host Standpoint.

Dental caries is initiated by an unbalance between periods of demineralization and remineralization, and the consequence is localized loss of minerals right under the enamel surface of certain teeth that, if left to progress, may lead to irreversible loss of structure. One approach proposed to overcome the limitation of simply counting the number of teeth or surfaces affected by caries was to characterize the initial loss of minerals from the dental enamel in the laboratory as a way to phenotype individuals for genetic studies of dental caries or erosive tooth wear. This chapter discusses the results of these original studies.

Genes Involved in Immune Response and Their Impact on Caries Susceptibility and Erosive Tooth Wear.

Dental caries is a bacteria-mediated disease that inherently triggers a response from the host. The impact of this response is discussed in this chapter with a focus on genes involved in either the innate or the adaptive immune system. Since erosive tooth wear involves losses of structure not mediated by bacteria, the impact of the immune system is likely neglectable.

Genes Influencing Behavior and Their Impact on Caries Susceptibility and Erosive Tooth Wear.

Behavioral change is one of the proposed interventions to address concerns regarding dental caries and erosive tooth wear. The impact of these interventions, however, is difficult to measure, and they are rarely considered in clinical studies. This chapter briefly discusses behavior having a genetic origin and describes several pathways that should be targeted for future studies.

Genes Interacting with Fluorides and Their Impact on Caries Susceptibility and Erosive Tooth Wear.

The use of fluorides to address dental caries experience in populations was one of the biggest successes of public health in the twentieth century. The widespread use of fluorides also brought fluorosis to areas that otherwise would not be affected. This chapter briefly discusses the impact of fluorides on dental caries and amelogenesis and emphasizes the impact of fluorides on genes that are relevant to amelogenesis, dental caries, erosive tooth wear, and fluorosis.

Genes and Dietary Preferences and Their Impact on Caries Susceptibility and Erosive Tooth Wear.

A dietary pattern rich in refined sugars is associated with higher caries experience. However, people show differences in references for certain foods, and these differences are genetic in origin. In this chapter, dietary preference is the focus of the discussion of individual susceptibility to dental caries and erosive tooth wear.

Genes Involved in Saliva Formation and Composition and Their Impact on Caries Susceptibility and Erosive Tooth Wear.

Saliva interfaces with all oral tissues and modulates the development of dental caries or erosive tooth wear. Its mechanical function of coating all surfaces combined with the components in saliva modulates individual susceptibility to dental caries or erosive tooth wear. The effort to associate genes known to regulate saliva roles with dental caries experience has been carefully reviewed in the literature, and this chapter reflects on these studies from their conception standpoint, highlighting limitations in design, and adds a review to the work on erosive tooth wear.

Genes Involved in Enamel Formation and Their Impact on Caries Susceptibility and Erosive Tooth Wear.

The formation of the dental enamel is a consequence of a complex series of events and when disturbed, visible consequences ranging from hypoplasia to hypomineralization occur. Less dramatic alterations of the enamel structure and conformation are argued to modulate individual susceptibility to dental caries or erosive tooth wear. The effort to associate genes known to regulate dental enamel formation with dental caries experience has been carefully reviewed in the literature, and this chapter reflects on these studies from their conception standpoint, highlighting limitations in design, and adds a review to the work on erosive tooth wear.

Individual Susceptibility to Erosive Tooth Wear: Wine Tasters.

Erosive tooth wear is the classic gene-environmental model. It requires the exposure to acids, typically from the diet or from the gastric content of the host, and shows variation among individuals and populations, which suggests it to be determined by more than one gene, each with small individual effects. This genetic component is not easily studied since a precise assessment of acidic exposure is complicated.

Heritability of Dental Caries: Twin Studies.

The study of twins is a powerful tool to infer the presence and amount of contribution of genetic variation to a particular trait or disease. The ability to compare identical or monozygotic twins with dizygotic twins permits the direct comparison of pairs of individuals that share 100% of their genomic DNA with pairs that share only 50%, with the assumption that these pairs are under the same environment. In the case of dental caries, the environment is same parents, under the same roof, with the same diet, oral hygiene habits, culture, and lifestyle.

Genetics of Dental Caries: Controlled Animal Models.

Research in animal models, particularly rodents, has been used as a tool for gaining insight into the genetics contribution to dental caries. This chapter dissects some of these data, particularly the early studies motivated by observations in humans, complementing them with more recent ones designed specifically to map genes for dental caries. Finally, it offers a critical view of the rationale and lack of ethical principles of the use of nonhuman species in research.

Individual Susceptibility to Dental Caries: The Vipeholm Study.

The evidence for a genetic component to dental caries is in comparison much less explored in the literature than the other classically described components of the disease: microbiota and diet. Diet can be said to have been conclusively linked to the etiology of dental caries by the results of the Vipeholm study, which did not deal with any microbial aspect of the disease. What is much less emphasized is that these same results provided one of the most robust lines of evidence that exist in support of a genetic component to dental caries.

Beyond Amelogenesis Imperfecta Mutations: Hypomorphic Forms.

Mutations in several genes can lead to amelogenesis imperfecta. These same genes and other members of their pathways quite possibly may also contribute to individual susceptibility to dental caries and/or erosive tooth wear. This chapter provides an analysis of the function of the genes which, when mutated, cause amelogenesis imperfecta and discusses how mechanisms involving hypomorphic alleles in one or more genes, methylation changes, and imprinting disorders could be underlying individual susceptibility to dental caries and/or erosive tooth wear.

PAX7 gene polymorphism in muscular temporomandibular disorders as potentially related to muscle stem cells.

Background: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a group of painful and debilitating disorders, involving the masticatory muscles and/or the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Chronic TMD pain can be associated with genetic changes in the key muscle development genes.

Objective: To evaluate the association between polymorphisms in the PAX7 (paired box 7) gene and masticatory myalgia in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD).