The European Journal of Orthodontics Advance Access originally published online on October 28, 2005
The European Journal of Orthodontics 2005 27(6):556-561; doi:10.1093/ejo/cji059
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Craniofacial morphology in Chinese female twins: a semi-longitudinal cephalometric study
Departments of * Pediatric Dentistry and ** Oral Medicine, Peking University School of Stomatology, Beijing, China and *** Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan
Address for correspondence Jing Peng, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Peking University School of Stomatology, 22 Zhongguancun South Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China. E-mail: yxmp{at}public.bta.net.cn
It would be of benefit to have a better understanding of the relative effects of genetics and environmental factors on craniofacial parameters when undertaking orthodontic therapy and treatment planning. However, there is a lack of such information in pre-adolescents. The aim of this study was to verify the degree of genetic and environmental contribution to the growth of the facial skeleton in twins aged 6 to 12 years. The material comprised the lateral cephalograms of 89 pairs of female twins in Beijing, China, of whom 61 pairs were diagnosed by DNA analysis as monozygotic (MZ) and 28 pairs as dizygotic (DZ). Four main groups (with a starting age of 6, 7, 9 and 11 years) were studied in a semi-longitudinal manner, with a sub-group further investigated for 24 consecutive years. The total sample therefore consisted of 183 pairs (MZ 110, DZ 73) aged from 6 to 12 years. The depths of the cranial base, mid and lower face were measured, as well as anterior and posterior face height.
A two-tailed t-test showed significant environmental effects on lower face depth (P < 0.01), whilst genetic effects on face height were also significant (P < 0.01). The results suggest that early orthodontic intervention would have a greater influence on the antero-posterior rather than on the vertical plane of growth.