Research progress on pathogenic genes and molecular mechanisms of nonsyndromic tooth agenesis

Tooth agenesis is a common tooth number deficiency that occurs in the tooth-forming process or earlier period of tooth germ development and has a serious impact on the maxillofacial development, aesthetics and masticatory function of patients. According to the presence or absence of systemic symptoms, tooth agenesis can be divided into syndromic tooth agenesis and nonsyndromic tooth agenesis. In recent years, the discovery of new related genes, new mutation sites and related molecular mechanisms has become a major direction of gene research. This article will review the current research progress of the signaling pathways related to nonsyndromic tooth agenesis, such as the WNT/beta-catenin pathway, TGF-β/BMP pathway, PAX9, MSX1, and the EDA/EDAR/NF-κb pathway, and their molecular mechanisms. The interaction between Pax9 activating the Wnt/β-catenin and TGF-β/BMP pathways, MSX1 activating the TGF-β/BMP pathway, and Wnt activating the EDA/EDAR/NF-κb pathway was also found, which provides a new theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of tooth agenesis. The molecular mechanism of nonsyndromic tooth agenesis is rarely studied; thus, the exploration of its mechanism will become one of the main research directions in the future.