Genetic Aspects of Tooth Eruption: A Systematic Review

Tooth eruption is the movement of a tooth from its growth site in the alveolar bone to its functional place in the oral cavity. This process continues for life, and does not stop even when teeth have reached the occlusal plane. It is still unclear how and when proceeds in detail the process of teeth eruption into the oral cavity, and the related studies are still rare, especially from the genetic aspects. The aim of this study is to systematically review the latest studies on the genetic aspects of tooth eruption. A systematic search was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines, using the Pubmed database using the keywords “genetic,” “tooth eruption,” and “tooth emergence.” The activated Pubmed filtering criteria included the article type, publication time, subject study, and age. The filtering was carried out manually based on the factors of non-duplication, feasibility of the complete manuscript and physiological tooth eruption, and absence of disease. The articles used as a reference in the eleven articles were assessed for their feasibility to be included in this study. Overall, out of the studies of these eleven articles, six studies addressed the eruption period of primary teeth and five studies period of permanent teeth. Regarding the subjects, seven studies studied twin subjects, and four studies studied individual subjects (singletons). Recent studies have greatly contributed to the identification of the genetic factors, loci and alleles controlling the tooth eruption process. This applies for example to the order of the erupted teeth, the age of a person when the teeth emerge in the oral cavity, and inter-jaw asymmetry, antimeric, and contralateral.