Hereditary factors could be linked to oral diseases

A new meta-analysis study, the largest ever conducted, has concluded that hereditary traits like education, obesity and personality could be influencing factors in periodontitis and tooth decay, the most common oral diseases. The researchers combined data from nine international clinical studies with 62,000 participants with data on self-reported dental health from the UK Biobank including 461,000 participants. They also scanned millions of strategic points in the genome to find genes with links to dental diseases. 47 new genes with connections to tooth decay were identified, and a previously known immune-related gene was confirmed to be linked to periodontitis. Some of the genes linked to tooth decay are those that help form teeth and the jawbone, those which affect the bacteria found on the teeth, and those with protective functions in saliva.
Research lead, Ingegerd Johansson, senior professor in the Institute of Odontology at Umeå University, Sweden, said: “The study makes it clear that teeth are part of the body. Among other things, we can see that there seems to be a causal link between risk factors for cardiovascular disease and tooth decay.”
Co-author Simon Haworth, Bristol Dental School and Bristol Population Health Science Institute, said: “In the future, studies like this may pave the way to identifying people who are at particular risk of dental problems. However, no matter what genes people carry, good oral hygiene and diet are the most important things people can do to reduce the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.”