Pattern of permanent first molar tooth loss among children aged 6 to 14 yrs in Patna, Bihar – a retrospective study

Introduction: Permanent first molar is the first tooth to erupt in the oral cavity when the child is about six years old. It stays in the mouth for longer period and plays an important role in the growth and development of the jaw and occlusion which subsequently maintain the overall health of the dentition. Loss of this tooth due to either caries or periodontitis at the very early stage of life leads to progressive destruction of remaining teeth. Materials & Methods: A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted at Department of pediatric dentistry Buddha institute of dental sciences & hospital in Patna, Bihar (India) to find out the demographic pattern and reasons for the loss of permanent first molar tooth in children. The data were procured from hospital records of all children aged 6 to 14 yrs who had visited the Paediatric dentistry department between the year 2013 and 2015. Results: A total of 292 first permanent molar were extracted among children over a period of 2 years (2013- 2015). It is found that majority of the mandibular left 1st permanent molar (155 or 53.08%) were extracted followed by mandibular right 1st permanent molar (64 or 21.92%) where as only (40 or 13.7%) upper right 1st permanent molar & 33 (11.3%) upper left 1st permanent molar were extracted. The results showed that the mandibular arch is more prone to tooth loss due to caries. Conclusion: It was concluded that Left mandibular permanent first molar is the most common tooth among the first molars to show high mortality rate. Majority of the permanent first molar tooth loss is seen after the age of 10 yrs. The percentage of permanent first molar tooth loss increases with increasing age.