The conditions manifesting taurodontism.

Taurodontism is a trait that has captured the interests of evolutionists and clinical geneticists. This paper reviews the reported cases of taurodontism as an isolated trait and as a component of malformation syndromes. Because of the nature of the syndromes with which it is associated and its frequency in the general population, it is concluded that taurodontism is the result of an ectodermal defect and may be useful as an indicator of development instability.