New review article: genetic aspects of dental erosive wear and dental caries

 

 

 

 

 

Genetic analyses are required if we are to increase our knowledge and improve our understanding of dental erosion and dental caries.

 

 

 

 

 

The genes coding for enamel matrix proteins are associated with increased susceptibility.

 

The high prevalence of dental erosion and dental caries among certain groups, and observations that not all individuals appear to be at risk, has sparked research on genetic effects related to these conditions.

NIOMs researcher Aida Mulic, and colleagues recently published a review article which gives an overview of the literature on novel genetic aspects of dental erosion and dental caries.

The data consists of 46 studies from the National Library of Medicine database. Articles contain different combinations of the following terms: tooth, dental, dentin, enamel, erosion, erosive wear, caries, decay, gene and genetic.

The findings

The review reveals largely varying quality among the studies. This demonstrates the difficulties of developing studies with adequate sample sizes, and durable phenotype definitions that permit enough statistical power to identify genetic contributors. Nonetheless, the susceptibility to dental erosion and caries is seen to vary between individuals, and seems to be affected by both oral environment and variations in the dental enamel.

Regardless of the limitations, several studies have demonstrated an association between dental caries, dental erosion, and genetic factors. The genes coding for enamel matrix proteins, i.e., amelogenin, enamelin, tuftelin, and tuftelin interaction protein 11, are associated with increased susceptibility.

Although, it is evident that individuals who frequently expose their teeth to acid and sugar are at high risk, findings exclusively based on these factors are elusive. Therefore, a combination of genetic analyses such as gene expression, metagenomics, and protein-protein interaction networks are required if we are to increase our knowledge and improve our understanding of dental erosion and caries.

 

Credit Istockphoto: The odd one out. Researcher are looking for – and in some cases finding- anomalies.

References: Review Article: Genetic Aspects of Dental Erosive Wear and Dental Caries
Tulek A, Mulic A, Runningen M, Lillemo J, Utheim TP, Khan Q, Sehic Amer
Hindawi International Journal of Dentistry Volume 2021, Article ID 5566733, 14 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5566733

NIOM Newsletter September 2021

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