Clinical follow-up study of third molar eruption from ages 20 to 26 years.
The development of 412 upper and lower third molars was clinically followed up for 6 years in 120 students, starting at the age of 20 years. Clinical and radiographic examinations carried out at baseline and 6 years later showed that during the follow-up period almost half the third molars originally recorded as partially erupted had erupted. When the lower third molars were initially invisible, only 9% of them had erupted by age 26 years whereas 29% remained invisible. When third molars had been already erupted at baseline, only a few were extracted during the 6-year follow-up period. It was concluded that a certain proportion of third molars erupt relatively late, and therefore the need for surgical interventions may decrease with age during early adulthood.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Helsinki, Finland.
I
I
Ventä
H
H
Murtomaa
L
L
Turtola
J
J
Meurman
P
P
Ylipaavalniemi
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000254:growth & development*; D014078:Tooth Eruption