The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of four tooth whitening systems in significantly whitening teeth and to document the incidence of treatment- related tooth sensitivity. It is usually inherited in families. The purpose of this study is to identify gene defects that could cause these disorders. The research strategy is to analyze DNA samples from family members or individual cases using molecular genetic mapping techniques and mutation detection methods. This project is designed to identify genes that can cause keloid formation during wound healing and to study the functions of the keloid gene products.
Keloids are tumor-like proliferations of scar tissue.
Whereas normal scars do not overgrow the original boundary of the wound, keloid tissue grows uninhibited in individuals with a predisposition to keloid formation. Keloid scars can proliferate for years and cause not only cosmetic problems but can be very painful and prone to infection. Keloids occur in an autosomal dominant trait or as isolated cases and there have been reports of families with keloid formation in an autosomal recessive mode. Molecular Analysis of Cherubism Cherubism is a disorder of age-related bone remodeling and is limited to the maxilla and the mandible. During childhood, increased osteoclastogenesis leads to cyst-like loss of bone in the jaws and replacement of bone with large amounts of fibrous tissue that keeps proliferating like a tumor.