Postnatal lower jaw dentition in different phenotypes of tabby mice.

The tabby (Ta) syndrome in mouse is homologous to human anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, including defective development of hair, teeth, and glands. To complete the available data on the functional dentition in the Ta mice, we analyzed the mandibular cheek teeth in 261 postnatal specimens arranged in several phenotype/genotype groups: 51 Ta-hemizygous males, 56 Ta-homo/hemizygous females, 64 Ta-heterozygous females, and 40 and 50 wild-type control males and females, respectively. We evaluated tooth number, size, shape and eruption and compared these parameters in the different groups. In any individual group of Ta mice, there was variability mainly in the size and shape of the most mesial tooth and in the tooth patterns. The incidence of a reduction in tooth number in homozygous and hemizygous mice was dependent on the breeding scheme.