THE EVALUATION OF THE FIRST MOLARS IN CHILDREN BETWEEN 12-18 YEARS: A RETROSPECTİVE RADİOGRAPHİC STUDY

Aim: the aim of this study is to investigate the status of the permanent first molars in respect to dental caries, fillings and lacking as well as to determine the distribution of these in relation to mandible and maxilla as well as right and left side of the jaws in a group of children living in izmir. material and methods: this study was performed of 773 children between 12 to 18 years old who had been admitted at the dental hospital of ministry of health in izmir, turkey, in 2013. the panoramic radiographs of the patients were evaluated regarding the prevalence of dental caries, fillings(including root canal treatment) and lacking of the permanent first molars. results: 773 patients between 12-18(15.92±1.73) years old participating to this study consist of 457 girls(59.1%) and 316 boys(40.9%). one or more caries, filling and lacking of the permanent first molars of 449 (58.1%) of these patients was found. total first molar teeth of patients present in each jaws is 3092. 1032(33.38%) of these had decay, filling or extracted. the distribution of these according to teeth is as follows 75.68% of the upper right first molars(m1) were healthy and 24.32% of these were decayed or extracted. 75.42% of the upper left first molars(m2) were healthy and %24.58 of these were decayed or extracted. 58.60% of the lower right first molars(m3) were healthy and 41.40% of these were decayed or extracted. 56.79% of the lower left first molars(m4) were healthy and 43.21% of these were decayed or extracted. the upper first molars(m1+m2) 84.60%, were determined to be healthier than the lower first molars(m3+m4) 68.20% and there was a statistically significant difference between jaws (p<0.001). conclusion: the study point out an important result regarding the protection of first molar teeth