Dens In Dente And Palatal Invaginations

Dens in dente and deep palatal invaginations (lingual pits) of the secondary maxillary lateral incisors may be inherited as an autosomal dominant. Grahnen et al. (1959) found in a study of 3,000 Swedish children a frequency of about 3%. In 58 families studied, a similar defect was found in over one-third of parents. In the same family some had dens in dente and others had deep lingual pits. Lingual pits offer a favorable setting for development of caries.