J Med Genet: first published as 10.1136/jmg.9.3.336 on 1 September 1972. Downloaded from Journal of Medical Genetics (1972). 9, 336. The Inheritance of Dental Traits in a Chinese Population in the United Kingdom G. T. R. LEE and D. H. GOOSE School of Dental Surgery, University of Liverpool Dental traits such as those of Carabelli or incisor locally. On the other hand over 70% of the children shovelling have fascinated anthropologists and were born in the United Kingdom. dentists for many years. This is probably because The families were visited at their homes and dental im- they are easily observed in both living and skeletal pressions of the upper and lower teeth were taken using material and they show ethnic differences in fre- an accurate impression material. The impressions were cast as soon as possible using a high grade dental plaster. quency which might have a genetic basis. From the casts produced the following observations If, however, these traits are to be of any value were made. their mode of inheritance must be understood and so some preliminary work was done on an existing Liverpool family study described by Bowden and &\<J C C2 Goose (1969). In this material the behaviour of one trait (Carabelli's) was followed. This trait is situated on the lingual aspect of the mesio-lingual Qci copyright. cusp of the maxillary 1st and, to a lesser extent, 2nd and 3rd molars (Fig. 1). It may take the form of a pit, fissure, or cusp, and following Kraus b (1951), 4 categories are noted; (a) no evidence of Carabelli's trait-smooth surface with the absence of pits or fissures, (b) pits or fissures, (cl) cusp with- b out free tip, and (c2) cusp with free tip. It was found that the formerly suggested model of 2 allelic autosomal genes without dominance did not http://jmg.bmj.com/ seem satisfactory and it was suggested that the in- heritance might be multifactorial (Goose and Lee, FIG. 1. Carabelli's trait. Cusp with free tip (C2), cusp without free 1971). tip (C1), groove and pit (b), and no evidence (a). Further dental traits were then examined but owing to the large number of missing or filled teeth Shovelling of Incisors. The term 'shovel- in the parents no fully satisfactory data could be ob- shaped' refers to a combination of a concave lingual sur- face and elevated marginal ridges enclosing a central tained. However another population (Chinese) was on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected available in Liverpool which it was felt might not fossa in incisor teeth (Fig. 2). Hrdlicka (1920) classified suffer so much from this maxillary incisors into 4 categories; (a) shovel-enamel problem and so it was de- rim distinct with the enclosed fossa well developed; cided to investigate them as well. (b) semi-shovel-enamel~~~~arim distinct but enclosed fossa shallow; (c) trace-shovel-traces of enamel rim which Materials and Methods could not be classed as semi-shovel; (d) no shovel-no One hundred of these Chinese families living in perceptible trace ofrim or fossa. Liverpool and the surrounding districts who were either known personally or through contacts were visited. Maxillary Molar Cusp Number. Generally the The average age of the parents was 38 with a range of maxillary first molar exhibits 4 cusps but the 2nd and between 29 and 55 years whilst the average age of the 3rd molars are more variable due to evolutionary reduc- children was 12 with a range of 7 to 22 years. Nearly tion leading to the diminution or elimination of the disto- all the parents were immigrants, only 5 being born lingual cusp (Fig. 3). In the present study only the 2nd molar has been studied and 3 categories have been used; Received 29 February 1972. 4-cusped teeth (4), distolingual cusp reduced in size 336 J Med Genet: first published as 10.1136/jmg.9.3.336 on 1 September 1972. Downloaded from The Inheritance of Dental Traits in a Chinese Population in the United Kingdom 337 and cl and c2, respectively. Table I shows the offspring from different mating types. TABLE I OFFSPRING WITH CARABELLI'S TRAIT (FIRST MOLAR) PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT MATINGS Offspring 1\ Matings CC a cc Cc cc x cc 22 30 0 ccxCc 5 25 2 ccxCC 3 7 2 II\ CcxCc 2 10 0 b CcxCC 0 0 0 CC x CC 0 0 0 cc = a, Cc = b, and CC = cl + c2 (see Fig. 1) C TABLE II OFFSPRING WITH SHOVEL-SHAPED INCISORS PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT MATINGS d Central Incisor Offspring FIG. 2. Shovel-shaped incisors. Section through X-X. Shovel Matings (a), semi-shovel (b), trace-shovel (c), and no shovel (d). SS Ss as SSxSS 38 4 0 SS x Ss 38 26 0 (3 +), and absence of the distolingual cusp (3) (Turner, 1969). copyright. Lateral Incisor Mandibular Cusp Number and Fissure Pattern (Fig. 4). The occlusal form of mandibular molars in Offspring Matings man may vary from the primitive 5-cusp 'dryopithecus' SS Ss ass pattern bearing the Y fissure configuration to extreme SSxSS 16 4 0 modification of 4 cusps with an X-shaped configuration. SS x Ss 16 21 2 The Y fissure configuration shows contact of the mesio- SSxss 0 0 0 SsxSs 1 4 0 lingual cusp with the middle buccal cusp. The + pattern shows a cruciform fissure configuration where http://jmg.bmj.com/ SS = a, Ss = b, and ss = c + d (see Fig. 2) there is a point contact between the 4 main cusps. In the present study the mandibular 2nd molar only was classified into 4- or 5-cusped and Y, +, or X fissure con- Turner (1969) suggested in his Eskimo study that figuration since the 1st was often absent or obscured by in the case of shovelling one homozygote showed no fillings. feature or just a trace (ss), the heterozygote, semi- shovel (Ss), and the other homozygote full shovel b (SS). In Fig. 2 these are respectively c and d, b and a. He also stated that in maxillary molar cusp num- on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected (e mm ber one homozygote showed 4 cusps (HH), the heterozygote a reduced cusp (Hh), and the other homozygote 3 cusps (hh). In Fig. 3 these are 4 3+ 3 labelled 4, 3+, and 3 respectively. The matings FIG. 3. Maxillary molar cusps. Four cusps (4), reduced disto- lingual cusp (3 +), and 3 cusps (3); b = buccal, m = mesial. b Results Kraus (1951) suggested that for Carabelli's trait one homozygote showed no feature (cc), the hetero- Y + X zygote pits or grooves (Cc), and the other homozy- FIG. 4. Mandibular molar fissure configuration. Y, +, and X a 1 gote cusp (CC). In Fig. these are labelled a, b, patterns; b = buccal, m = mesial. J Med Genet: first published as 10.1136/jmg.9.3.336 on 1 September 1972. Downloaded from 338 Lee and Goose TABLE III homozygotes (CC) are produced from matings of OFFSPRING WITH DIFFERENT the other and MAXILLARY MOLAR CUSP homozygotes (cc) heterozygotes; NUMBERS (SECOND MOLAR) homozygotes are also produced by matings of the 2 PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT MATINGS unlike homozygotes. In Table III of like Offspring mating homozygotes (hh) Matings produce a heterozygote and the other homozygote, hh Hh matings of unlike homozygotes produce 18 homo- hhxhh 2 1 of one and 4 ofthe hh x Hh 0 0 zygotes (14 other). In Table IV, Hh x Hh 0 0 one homozygote (yy) is produced from matings of hhxHH 14 1 Hh x HH 0 1 unlike homozygotes and 3 homozygotes (YY) and 7 HH x HH 1 0 heterozygotes from matings of the other homozy- gotes (yy). hh = 3, Hh = 3 +, and HH = 4 (see Fig. 3) Although certain upsets in mating patterns might be due to misclassification or illegitimacy the numer- for these two characters are shown in Tables II and III. ous exceptions to the 4 codominant models seem conclusive proof that this is not the correct hypo- By analogy the same type of model is tested here thesis. for lower molar fissure Y pattern, being one homo- In the case of the mandibular molar cusp number zygote (YY), + being the heterozygote (Yy), and X there is the insufficient evidence to make any comment other homozygote (yy) (Fig. 4). These mat- about the of the dominant recessive ings are shown in Table IV. adequacy model and it would be interesting to see some more data on this. TABLE IV OFFSPRING WITH DIFFERENT MANDIBULAR MOLAR FISSURE TABLE V CONFIGURATION (SECOND MOLAR) PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT MATINGS DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARABELLI MANIFESTATIONS PRODUCED BY copyright. DIFFERENT MATINGS IN CAUCASAIN Offspring FAMILIES (GOOSE AND LEE, 1971) Matings Yy Yy yy Matings Offspring YYxYY 0 0 0 Matings YYxYy 0 0 0 CC Cc cc YYxyy 0 3 1 YyxYy 0 1 1 cc xcc 0 2 0 Yyxyy 0 5 3 ccxCc 5 6 4 yy x yy 3 7 ccxCC 0 1 2 3 Cc xCc 2 7 0 Cc xCC 0 2 0 YY = Y, Yy = +, and yy = X (see Fig. 4) CC x CC O O O http://jmg.bmj.com/ Only 4- or 5-cusped lower 2nd molars were available in the series and thus the previous hypo- Taken as a whole, therefore, simple Mendelian theses would not be possible in this case. An models seem unacceptable for these common dental attempt was made to test a simple dominant reces- traits and it appears necessary to look again care- sive model but the result was inconclusive.