title: The "Red Line" Conundrum: A Concept Beyond Its Expiry Date?
abstract: Introduction George Winter attempted to assess the depth and difficulty of extracting impacted mandibular wisdom molars by describing three imaginary lines drawn on an intra-oral radiograph. Of these lines, the red line is the only one which is measured and great importance is attached to its actual length. Method The authors of this short paper describe the difficulty in drawing this red line accurately through examples. Conclusion The authors believe that Winter's lines and their interpretation are only of historical value and have no place in contemporary texts on oral surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, ITS Centre for Dental Studies and Research, Muradnagar, India.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, ITS Centre for Dental Studies and Research, Muradnagar, India.
authors.forename: Mahendra P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, ITS Centre for Dental Studies and Research, Muradnagar, India.
authors.forename: Lokesh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, ITS Centre for Dental Studies and Research, Muradnagar, India.
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhatnagar
keywords: Difficulty index; Third molar depth; Winter’s lines