Agenesis of permanent maxillary lateral incisors in South Australian twins

The frequency of agenesis of maxillary lateral incisors (I2) in a sample of South Australian twins was determined, and associations with gender, zygosity, birthweight and dental crown size were investigated. Ten of the 446 twins examined (2.24 per cent) displayed agenesis of one or both I2, a similar frequency to that reported for Australian singletons. Seven of the ten affected individuals were monozygous female twins, including two pairs, while the three affected dizygous twins were each from different male twin pairs. Five pairs of monozygous twins were identified who displayed varying expressions of normal, small, peg-shaped or missing I2. These twin pairs displayed disparate birthweights suggesting they may have been mono-chorionic. These findings are consistent with a multifactorial threshold model linking size and number of I2 with developmental influences modifying phenotypic expression in those monozygous twins whose genetic predisposition places them near to the threshold for agenesis.