The prevalence of taurodontism in Down's syndrome.

Taurodontism, a condition in which the pulp chambers of teeth are elongated, was observed in extracted lower molars of 12 out of 33 (36.4%) individuals with Down's syndrome (DS). It is suggested that this high prevalence is associated with a delayed ingrowth and fusion of the epithelial flaps of the developing root sheath and that taurodontism represents one of several characteristic morphological dental features in DS that result from decreased mitotic activity of cells in developing tooth germs.