title: Heritability of craniometric and occlusal variables: a longitudinal sib analysis.
abstract: There has long been interest in the inheritance of malocclusion, but few studies have distinguished between skeletal (craniometric) variables and occlusal, tooth-based variables (e.g., anterior irregularity, rotations, displacements). This study was based on serial assessments of untreated persons in 30 sibships from 4 years (full deciduous dentition) to 20 years of age (full permanent dentition) in the Bolton-Brush Growth Studies of Ohio. Results define a clear dichotomy: craniometric variables (k = 29) typically show significant additive components of variance; correlations increase from age 4 to age 20; and correlations average 0.43 at adulthood. Tooth-based variables of position and relationship (k = 21) reach significance only occasionally; correlations decrease with age to the extent that few variables for subjects at age 20 have a correlation significantly different from zero. In contrast to craniometric variables, which have high heritabilities, almost all of the occlusal variability is acquired rather than inherited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee, Memphis.
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D008445:Maxillofacial Development / Q000235:genetics*