[Microsymptoms as an indication for familial hypodontia, hyperdontia and tooth displacement]

Hitherto several micromanifestations could be recognized as signals of pathognomic etiological factors indicative of aplasia, or, better, as disposition to disorders of the odontogenetic organs. Such microsymptoms are reduction of size, especially observed in upper lateral incisors (peg-shaped teeth), delayed mineralization, and dystopia of tooth-germs. Our findings suggest that many further phenomena belong to the same group of micromanifestations such as supernumerary teeth, either of typical or atypical shape (mesiodentes), supernumerary cusps and roots, gemination and fusion of teeth, infraposition of deciduous molars with a tendency to inclusion, just as undermining resorption of the (upper) second deciduous molar caused by the first molar, and, last but not least, a large distance of the germ of the (lower) second molar from the first molar as well as retention of those teeth. Such micromanifestations are theoretically important as clues on the trail of hereditary and practically useful as indicators of hyper- and hypodontia and dystopias in the same patient or among his close relatives.