The tooth: A marker of developmental abnormalities

Tooth formation results from specific epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, which summarize a number of developmental processes. Tooth anomalies may thus reflect subclinical diseases of the kidney, bone and more broadly of the mineral metabolism, skin or nervous system. Odontogenesis starts from the 3(rd) week of intrauterine life by the odontogenic orientation of epithelial cells by a first PITX2 signal. The second phase is the acquisition of the number, shape, and position of teeth. It depends on multiple transcription and growth factors (BMP, FGF, SHH, WNT). These ecto-mesenchymal interactions guide cell migration, proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation ending in the formation of the specific dental mineralized tissues. Thus, any alteration will have consequences on the tooth structure or shape. Resulting manifestations will have to be considered in the patient phenotype and the multidisciplinary care, but also may contribute to identify the altered genetic circuity.