How Can Cranial Bones and Teeth in Children with Craniofacial Anomalies Indicate Disturbances in the Brain and Cranial Nerves - Abstract
The text in this review is divided in three sections, each with results from four decades of research at the borderlines between orthodontics and the medical disciplines: embryology, fetal pathology, endocrinology, neurology, neuro-anatomy, neuro-psychiatry, neuro-radiology, and neuro-anthropology. The focus in this interdisciplinary collaboration has been on the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The three sections are:
Section 1: The theoretical background for understanding the normal close interrelationship between CNS/PNS and the hard tissues based on human fetal studies and human postnatal studies.
Section 2: CNS. Clinical examples demonstrating the pathological interrelationships between the brain and the cranial base.
Section 3: PNS. Clinical examples demonstrating the pathological interrelationships between the peripheral nerve branches and the jaws, alveolar processes, and teeth.
VIt is demonstrated how cranial bones in the anterior cranial fossa are associated with disturbance in the cerebrum and how abnormal contours in sella turcica are associated with different pituitary gland malformations. Furthermore it is demonstrated how abnormal morphology of the posterior cranial fossa
can reveal cerebellum disturbances. It is highlighted that the dental arches are composed of different fields (areas) with different neural crest origins and therefore different innervations. Malformed teeth or absence of teeth within specific fields can reveal disturbances in peripheral nerves.