Pharmacogenomics for Oral Disease

Personalized medicine describes the use of biomarkers to stratify individuals into biologic classes to guide therapeutic or preventive interventions that are more likely to achieve a more favorable outcome. Pharmacogenomics, is a component of personalized medicine that involves the use of genomic information to guide drug selection to improve the clinical response. In this chapter, we discuss pharmacogenomic approaches to drug development for the management of X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia that affects tooth formation and to improve therapeutic outcomes for oral, head and neck cancers. We also describe how personalized medicine approaches may be used to stratify patients for more effective preventive or therapeutic interventions for the common oral diseases of periodontitis and dental caries.