This book explains the genetic basis of a wide range of dental disorders, including dental caries, periodontitis, congenital anomalies, malocclusions, orofacial pain, dental implant failure, and cancer. Such conditions are typically multifactorial or complex, with involvement of more than one gene as well as environmental influences. A sound grasp of this framework is ever more important, given the emergence of consumer genomics, including direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Dental professionals now need to understand why one person is susceptible to a particular oral health condition while a first-degree relative either does not develop the condition or does so in a less severe form. Knowledge of how genes operate in the susceptible host is essential if patients are to be offered accurate advice about their risks. The information provided in this book will assist in the delivery of effective personalized dental care through optimization of preventive strategies. It will enable the practitioner to explain the extent to which a patient's condition is pure "bad luck", whether that bad luck can be changed by behavioral choices, and how many of our behaviors are influenced by genes.

Alexandre R. Vieira is Director of Clinical Research and Director of Student Research for the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Vieira received his DDS from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and subsequently gained an MS in Pediatric Dentistry and a PhD in Genetics at the UFRJ. He is currently a professor in the Department of Oral Biology at the University of Pittsburgh, with secondary professorial appointments in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the School of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Vieira has combined his background in pediatric dentistry and genetics to develop a research program that aims to provide a better understanding of common dental traits of complex etiology. He has created the Dental Registry and DNA Repository (DRDR), the first project in the world to keep DNA samples linked to a comprehensive dataset of dental clinical information. Dr. Vieira has received numerous awards and honors, including, on three occasions, the IADR/AADR William J. Gies Award for best clinical research paper published in the Journal of Dental Research. To date he has authored more than 300 refereed journal articles as well as two books; he has also co-edited two books. He is founder and editor of the journal Dentistry 3000.