Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014
The relationship between hypodontia and birth weight was investigated in 262 twins from the naval recruit population at Great Lakes. The overall frequency of hypodontia including third molars was 34.8%. Excluding third molars, hypodontia frequency was 11.6%. Anatomic distribution of congenitally missing teeth and frequency of third molar hypodontia were similar to other studies, but hypodontia of teeth other than third molars occurred two-three times as frequently in twins as in the general population.
The frequency of low birth weight (2500 g or less) in the twin sample was 47.7%. Hypodontia occurred more frequently in twins with low birth weight (42.6%) than in twins with birth weights over 2500 g (28.6%). Mean birth weight of twins with hypodontia was 2479 g, and without hypodontia, 2675 g. Twins with missing teeth other than third molars had a mean birth weight of 2357 g.
Mean birth weight was lower and hypodontia frequency was higher in MZ than in DZ twins. Discordances in anatomic location and number of missing teeth occurred in several MZ and DZ twin pairs. Discordances within MZ sets tended to be related to anatomic location rather than number of missing teeth. Six twin pairs (5 MZ and 1 DZ) out of 20 (13 MZ and 7 DZ) having one or more missing teeth had perfect concordance in both number and location of missing teeth. In 28 pairs neither member had hypodontia.
Mean intrapair variance in number of congenitally missing teeth was almost ten times greater in DZ than in MZ pairs, indicating the presence of a strong genetic component in connection with tooth number variability in twins.