Morphogenetic Expression of Genes in Class II Division 2 Malocclusion: A Pedigree Study

Introduction The etiology of malocclusion is multifactorial, involving both genetic and environmental influences. The literature has shown that neither a single entity, hereditary or genetic factors, nor ecological factors alone are responsible for causing malocclusion; furthermore, constant thumb-sucking and pacifier use, bony anomalies, congenitally missing teeth, oral injury, mouth breathing, etc., often cause malocclusion. Participants were selected from those who reported to the outpatient department of the Karnavati School of Dentistry in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, indicating a clinic-based sampling method. Both hereditary and environmental factors were equally considered as causative factors. This research aims to determine how craniofacial patterns associated with class II division 2 malocclusion are inherited from parents to their children through a pedigree analysis. Methods Patients diagnosed with class II division 2 malocclusion underwent thorough intraoral and extraoral assessments. Cephalometric tracings were included in the study after meeting the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. Family trees were created and analyzed using Cyrillic Software. Results A stronger correlation was found between patients and their fathers regarding skeletal and dental measurements. In contrast, the correlation coefficients for skeletal parameters between patient-mother pairs showed highly significant correlations, whereas no statistically significant correlation was found for dental parameters. Conclusion The morphogenetic expression in this study revealed that class II division 2 malocclusion exhibited sexual dimorphism for this specific category. Genetic counseling for parents can aid in early diagnosis and the development of prevention strategies. Mutations that are likely to occur due to the presence or absence of a particular gene or group of genes can be avoided if the prevalence of the specific gene associated with that condition is known.