A MEASURE OF THE EFFECTS OF HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT ON ERUPTION OF THE DECIDUOUS TEETH

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, and Orthodontic Research Clinic, Burlington, Ontario

The mean eruptive times of 8 teeth of a group of MZ and DZ twins have been compared.

Similarity in eruptive time between left and right teeth of an individual has been shown to be almost the same as that between left and right teeth of pairs of MZ twins. This was not true for DZ twins.

The intraclass correlation for MZ twins has been estimated. It is 0.91 for MZ twins and 0.56 for DZ twins. The effect of heredity on the eruptive time of a tooth was estimated as being 78 per cent. Heredity, therefore, plays an important part in the time taken for a tooth to erupt.

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