This Article Free Full Text Free Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Mucci, L.A. Articles by Pedersen, N.L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mucci, L.A. Articles by Pedersen, N.L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Environmental and Heritable Factors in the Etiology of Oral Diseases—A Population-based Study of Swedish Twins

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA;
² Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
³ Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;
⁴ Department of Oral Sciences-Center for Clinical Dental Research, University of Bergen, Norway;
⁵ Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; and
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA;

Correspondence: ^* corresponding author, lmucci{at}hsph.harvard.edu

A population-based twin study is a useful design for quantification of the effects of genes and environmental factors in disease etiology. We used data from 10,000 Swedish twin pairs to quantify genetic and environmental contributions to tooth loss and periodontal health. Oral health information was obtained from telephone interviews. Structural equation models measured the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors. Genetic factors contributed to 14% of variation in tooth loss among women, and 39% among men. Non-shared environmental factors accounted for one-quarter of risk; environmental factors shared by twins comprised the remainder. Heritability estimates of periodontal disease were 39% and 33% for women and men, respectively, while non-shared environmental factors accounted for the remaining variation. Heritability for both conditions varied as a function of age and smoking status. Analysis of data from this large, population-based study demonstrates a moderate role of genetic factors in oral diseases, and suggests potential gene-environment interactions.

Key Words: twin study • periodontal disease • tooth loss • heritability

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 84, No. 9, 800-805 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/154405910508400904


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. A. Mucci, C.-c. Hsieh, P. L. Williams, M. Arora, H.-O. Adami, U. de Faire, C. W. Douglass, and N. L. Pedersen Do Genetic Factors Explain the Association Between Poor Oral Health and Cardiovascular Disease? A Prospective Study Among Swedish Twins Am. J. Epidemiol., September 1, 2009; 170(5): 615 - 621. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A.-L. Ostberg, M. Nyholm, B. Gullberg, L. Rastam, and U. Lindblad Tooth loss and obesity in a defined Swedish population Scand J Public Health, June 1, 2009; 37(4): 427 - 433. [Abstract] [PDF]