Effects of Consanguineous Marriages On Oral and Craniofacial Structures: A Study On Dental Patients In North India

Consanguinity describes a relationship between two people who share an ancestor, or share blood. These consanguineous marriages are a major risk to the health of offsprings till the extent that they can cause various craniofacial abnormalities, orofacial pigmentations and other abnormal birth defects. We conducted a study on patients visiting a dental college in North India to accesses the possible deleterious effects of consanguineous marriages on oral and craniofacial structures.

The study group comprised of all the patients visiting outpatient department of Kotiwal Dental college and Research centre, Moradabad in North India from March 2009 to February 2010. 200 patients showed positive history of consanguinity. They were carefully evaluated and all the diagnostic information was noted.

66 out of 200 patients had systemic disorders like cardiovascular, pulmonary and renal disturbances. 56 patients had orofacial manifestations like orofacial pigmentations, craniofacial syndromes and occlusal abnormalities with or without systemic disorders.

The prevalence of consanguineous marriages is still high. Consanguineous marriages are a major risk to the health of offsprings till the extent that they can cause various craniofacial abnormalities, orofacial pigmentations and other abnormal birth defects. They increase the autosomal recessive conditions through the expression of recessive deleterious alleles, especially in the offspring of first degree cousins.