A Dental Abnormality of Size and Rate

Abstract

THE size of the teeth and the rate of their development and eruption are matters of considerable importance in dental practice and attributes which we should often like to alter. Unfortunately they are characters very insusceptible to any influences which we may exert, and this applies particularly to tooth size. It is of some interest, therefore, to study a condition in which a striking abnormality of tooth size occurs, accompanied by an abnormality in the rate of development and by certain related disorders in the neighbouring tissues. Let us consider a moment what are the factors which are able to influence the size of teeth. There are genetic factors connected with family and race. Then in the direction of smallness we have the effects of radium and X-rays, certain genetic disorders affecting the mesodermal part of the tooth as in osteogenesis imperfecta and hereditary opalescent dentine, and perhaps some local inflammatory disorders such as osteomyelitis. In addition, in some forms of pituitary dwarfism of early onset the teeth may be on the small side of normal. In the direction of largeness the only suggestion of any factor other than genetic comes from the experimental work of Putnam, Teel and Benedict (1929) in which an alkaline extract of anterior pituitary gland was injected into l-weeks-old puppies. The teeth were said to be larger than in the control and though unfortunately no measurements were published some of them certainly appear so in the illustrations. Downs (1930) in a simlar experiment in which only slightly older puppies were used found no enlargement on measurement although other expected effects were obtained.As regards rate of development of the teeth and rate of eruption we know of more factors. Clinically it appears that these rates can be accelerated by additional thyroid or anterior pituitary hormone and retarded by deprivation of these substances, and there is considerable experimental support for this belief. In addition there is a striking group of cases showing dental as well as other precocity in association with hyperplasia or neoplasms of the adrenal cortex.

Lipomatosis: a diverse form of hemifacial hyperplasia

“…The enlargement of the teeth on the affected side, as a diagnostic aid in hemifacial hypertrophy, has been supported by Rushton 12. The findings of enlargement of the tongue and its papillae on the involved side was also seen in our case.…”

Morphological and Numerical Characteristics of the Southern Chinese dentitions. Part I: Anomalies in the Permanent Dentition

“…Microdontia is, as the term suggests, a phenomenon in which the teeth are smaller than normal, that is, outside the usual limits of variation for that tooth type. The clinical comparison is usually determined by making comparisons with the affected tooth and the antimere; as well as with the general dimensions of the [35,39,51]. The prevalence figures for microdontia in the permanent maxillary lateral incisor teeth in southern Chinese have been found by Ling [19] to be 1.0% which it was 3.3% in the present study, these figures are comparable to those that have been found in Caucasians, such as 3.1% in U.K. [5], and 1.58% in Turkey [50].…”

“…Dens evaginatus, which is only found on permanent teeth, is an enamel-covered tubercle which projects from the occlusal surface of a premolar and very occasionally from a canine or molar [60,61]. Teeth with dens evaginatus usually occur bilaterally [21,51,58,64], and more frequently in the mandibular than the maxilla [58,61,64,66].…”

Bilateral macrodontia of mandibular second premolars: a case report

“…This term has been used to describe dental gigantism and may be made in reference to a large proportion of the dentition (True generalized), the entire denti‐tion (Relative generalized) or to single teeth (Isolated macrodontia) [1]. True generalized macrodontia, where all teeth are larger than they are normally, is rare, and may be associated with pituitary gigantism [2–7]. Relative generalized macrodontia, in which the presence of normal or slightly larger than normal teeth in small jaws, is more common but poorly defined [2,3,8].…”

“…Macrodontia of single teeth has been rarely reported. Isolated Macrodontia may be found with simple enlargement of all tooth structures [4,5,9–13], or occasionally it may be associated with morphological anomalies [2,3,8,14–17].…”