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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Dental Arch Shape During Development: A Longitudinal Twin Study
Jamal Giri1, Michelle Bockmann1, Alan Brook1
1Adelaide Dental School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Orthodontics & Craniofacial Research
|July 2, 2026
Summary
Genetic and environmental factors significantly influence dental arch shape development from primary to permanent teeth. Moderate to high heritability indicates a strong genetic basis for arch form variations.
Area of Science:
- Human genetics
- Dental anthropology
- Developmental biology
Background:
- Dental arch shape is crucial for occlusion and facial aesthetics.
- Understanding the etiology of dental arch variation is essential for orthodontic treatment planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the heritability of dental arch shape.
- To differentiate genetic and environmental contributions to dental arch variation across dentition stages.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal analysis of 3D digital dental models from 188 twin pairs.
- Procrustes superimposition and principal component analysis (PCA) for arch shape.
- Genetic structural equation modeling (SEM) to partition variance components.
Main Results:
- PCA identified key arch shape components, including depth-to-width ratio.
- Additive genetic (A) and non-shared environmental (E) models best explained variation.
- Heritability estimates for major arch shape components ranged from 0.60 to 0.84.
Conclusions:
- Dental arch shape is significantly influenced by additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors.
- Moderate to high heritability suggests a strong genetic component in dental arch development.
- These findings have implications for understanding craniofacial development and orthodontic interventions.
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