Heritable conditions affecting tissues of the oral cavity

Abstract

The oral cavity is made up of complex and diverse tissues that provide a variety of highly specialized functions ranging from nuerosensory (e.g., taste) to nutritional/digestive functions (e.g., salivary digestion and mastication). Not surprisingly there is a substantial portion of the human genome used in making these unique diverse structures and allowing them to function appropriately. Consequently there are hundreds of conditions affecting the soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Some of these conditions affect primarily or only the oral cavity, although others are associated with significant somatic manifestations. This chapter reviews some of these conditions providing the reader a framework for understanding hereditary pathologies of the oral cavity. © 2006 Humana Press Inc.