Dental Approach to Craniofacial Syndromes: How Can Developmental Fields Show Us a New Way to Understand Pathogenesis?

摘要

The paper consists of three parts. Part 1: Definition of Syndromes. Focus is given to craniofacial syndromes in which abnormal traits in the dentition are associated symptoms. In the last decade, research has concentrated on phenotype, genotype, growth, development, function, and treatment. Part 2: Syndromes before Birth. How can the initial malformation sites in these syndromes be studied and what can we learn from it? In this section, deviations observed in syndromes prenatally will be highlighted and compared to the normal human embryological craniofacial development. Specific focus will be given to developmental fields studied on animal tissue and transferred to human cranial development. Part 3: Developmental Fields Affected in Two Craniofacial Syndromes. Analysis of primary and permanent dentitions can determine whether a syndrome affects a single craniofacial field or several fields. This distinction is essential for insight into craniofacial syndromes. The dentition, thus, becomes central in diagnostics and evaluation of the pathogenesis. Developmental fields can explore and advance the concept of dental approaches to craniofacial syndromes. Discussion. As deviations in teeth persist and do not reorganize during growth and development, the dentition is considered useful for distinguishing between syndrome pathogenesis manifested in a single developmental field and in several fields. Syndrome research reveals detailed insight into different aspects of congenital malformation of several body components. These malformations affect physical and psychological postnatal development and treatment. Such a wide-spread field of interest requires multidisciplinary teamwork, including clinicians and researchers with different backgrounds. In the last decade, focus has specifically been given to pathogenesis and genotype. A complete overview of craniofacial syndromes would involve not only the dental approach, but also several medical, psychological, and neurological clinical and theoretical approaches. The present paper focuses on 3 key aspects in craniofacial syndromes. These are definition and classification of dental deviations (Part 1); appearance of malformations before birth (Part 2) and a specific new dental approach to craniofacial syndromes (Part 3).