Familial trends in palatal canines, anomalous lateral incisors, and related phenomena.

Our previous studies have established a strong link between small, peg-shaped and missing lateral incisors, and palatally-displaced maxillary canine teeth. Since these anomalies of lateral incisor development are known to be under strong genetic control, the hypothesis was that first degree relatives of patients with palatal canines would themselves show a raised prevalence of the anomalies. The present study also investigated a possible link between palatal canines and lateness in development of the dentition, and a relative absence of crowding, both of which are phenomena that have been mentioned both by us and elsewhere as similarly linked phenomena. Results showed that anomaly of the lateral incisors was found to be four times that of the general population and that positive links with late development of the dentition and a relative absence of crowding were also seen.