Differences Between Gemination and Fusion

Gemination vs Fusion

Caring for your child’s teeth has always been one of the problems being encountered by parents. Parents make sure that their children always brush their teeth. However, what if your child’s teeth problems don’t only concern cavities? Instead, what if the teeth of your child seem to have some weird appearance like a tooth that seems doubled, etc? This calls for the case of gemination or fusion of your child’s teeth. But what exactly are gemination and fusion? Let’s find out.

Gemination and fusion are two dental phenomena that are often confused with each other. Children are the ones who are commonly affected by these dental phenomena. Here’s a quick overview regarding the differences between gemination and fusion. In gemination, your child seems to develop an extra tooth, while in fusion, your child seems to be missing one tooth.

Let us talk about gemination first. Gemination is the result when a particular, developing tooth of your child splits off into two. In other words, there are seemingly two teeth created from a single tooth root. The single tooth looks like two teeth, but actually it isn’t. To understand better what gemination is, let us take a look at its word origins. “Gemination” comes from the Latin word, “geminus,” which means “twin.” If you are determining whether a dental phenomenon is gemination, find a seemingly twin tooth but only having one root.

On the other hand, fusion is the complete opposite of gemination. If in gemination there are seemingly two teeth that developed from a single tooth, in fusion, two different developing teeth have joined together to create one tooth. And that is how fusion got its name. In other words, there are two teeth that combined or fused together to become one.

Though we have already differentiated gemination and fusion’s distinctions, it is sometimes still difficult to determine whether the teeth have undergone gemination or fusion since they look very similar. To tell them apart, the most practical way is to count the number of teeth of your child. If there is an extra tooth, it is gemination. If there is a tooth missing, it is fusion.

We have said earlier that these two dental phenomena occur in children. Since the teeth are only developing, it is likely that children will have tooth gemination or tooth fusion. But when the temporary teeth are replaced by permanent teeth, there is no need to worry about the geminated or fused tooth since it will be replaced. However, you need to also consult a dentist. Tooth gemination and tooth fusion can cause crowding of the teeth making the permanent teeth difficult to erupt. In some cases, a dentist needs to remove the double tooth in order to let the permanent teeth erupt.

According to reports, gemination and fusion are common among Asian children. About five percent of the children in the population are affected by it. And there are about 0.5 percent up to 2.5 percent of Caucasian children that are affected by gemination and fusion. Usually, the upper teeth’s incisors are affected by gemination and fusion. However, at times, there are gemination and fusion occurrences in the lower teeth.

Summary:

1. In gemination, your child seems to develop an extra tooth while in fusion your child seems to be missing one tooth.
2. Children are the ones who are commonly affected by gemination and fusion.
3. “Gemination” comes from the Latin word, “geminus,” which means “twin.”
4. Gemination is the result when a particular developing tooth of your child splits off into two. In other words, there are seemingly two teeth created from a single tooth root.
5. In fusion, two different developing teeth have joined together to create one tooth

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