Assessment of Lower Third Molar Eruption Status in Different Facial Growth Patterns in Adults

Abstract

Introduction Various skeletal and dental factors help in predicting the mandibular third molar eruption, but the reliability of these factors may vary within subjects with different growth patterns. Thus, the present study aims to analyze these parameters for the lower third molar eruption in subjects with different facial growth patterns. Material and Methods The study was conducted on 120 pre-treatment lateral cephalograms and orthopantomograms of the subjects who were equally divided (based on the SN-GoGn angle) into three groups: normodivergent, hypodivergent, and hyperdivergent. The groups were further subdivided into impacted and erupted subgroups based on mandibular third molar eruption status. Nine radiographic parameters were compared between the impacted and erupted subgroups, using the independent Student’s t-test, to check their association with mandibular third molar eruption in different growth patterns. Results Beta angle was significantly different in the erupted and impacted subgroups in all three groups (with p <.05). The retromolar space and alpha angle was significant in hypodivergent group (p <.01) and the gamma angle was significant in the hyperdivergent group (p <.01). Conclusion Among all the parameters that were analyzed for the third molar eruption, only the beta angle was significantly related to the third molar eruption in subjects with all three different growth patterns.