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Heritability estimates for dental caries and sucrose sweetness preference.

Bretz WA, Corby PM, Melo MR, Coelho MQ, Costa SM, Robinson M, Schork NJ, Drewnowski A, Hart TC

College of Dentistry, New York University, 345 East 24th St., New York, NY 10010, USA. walter.bretz@nyu.edu

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine heritability estimates for dental caries traits and sucrose sweetness preference. DESIGN: Participants included 115 pairs of twins 4-7-years-old. Caries exams followed NIDCR criteria where the severity of the lesion was also determined. Twins ranked their preference for five concentrations of sucrose/grape juice solutions (0.15-1.17M) with a Face Scale. Variables submitted to analysis: (1) surface-based caries prevalence rate (SBCPR); (2) lesion severity index (LSI); (3) sucrose sweetness preference score (SSPS). Heritability analyses were performed with the SOLAR software package. RESULTS: Heritability estimates adjusted for age and gender were: SBCPR-h(2)=64.6 (p<.00001), LSI-h(2)=61.7 (p<.00001) and SSPS-h(2)=55.2 (p<.00001). Treating SPSS as a covariate in the SBCPR and LSI models did not alter heritability estimates. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that variation in dental caries traits and sucrose sweetness preference have a significant genetic contribution that is mediated independently.

Published 13 November 2006 in Arch Oral Biol, 51(12): 1156-60.
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