The inheritance of shovel shape in maxillary central incisors

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the inheritance of the shovel shape of maxillary permanent central incisors. The material collected on Hailuoto Island, off the western coast of Finland, consists of 319 dental casts. The genealogical data are from the parish register. The genetic method is based on the incidence of the trait in the sibships as compared to that in the whole population sample. The results suggest that the trait is hereditary, and transmitted by a single intermediate autosomal gene, although more complex models of inheritance are also acceptable.