The frequency, time, and amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause various dental anomalies in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Not only does it increase the chance of children developing cleft lip and palate, newborns will tend to show agenesis, maxillary overjet, crowded incisors, anterior open bite and diastemas. These dental and maxillofacial changes are thought to be caused by the teratogenic effects of alcohol on the fetus in which FAS causes an alteration in the MSX1 and MSX2 genes. Both genes play an important part in the maxillary process's fusion and odontogenic formation.
