Özet:

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine and compare the developmental stages of the third molars in a sample of Turkish population aged between 12-17 years, according to age, sex and jaws. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Orthopantomograms of 322 (162 female, 159 male) Turkish patients, aged between 12-17 years were examined. Patients that had maxillary and mandibular third molars on the left side were included to this study. Numbers of the teeth were similar in each age group and gender. All evaluations were done in a dark room by an experienced orthodontist blinded to the age and sex of the patients. Maxillary and mandibular third molar developmental stages were evaluated according to the Demirjian method (stages A-H). Each stage was assigned a numeric value from 1 to 8. Mann-Whitney U test was performed to determine the differences between age, sex and jaw. A p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The intraobserver reliability was 0.85. In all age categories, there was no statistically significant difference between the third molar development in different sexes or jaws. Third molar crown formation was observed to be completed at around the age of 14 in both sexes and jaws. One-half to two-thirds of the roots formed in both sexes and jaws earliest at about 15 years of age. Moreover, complete root development was as early as at 16 years for females and at 17 years for males. CONCLUSION: At each age, no significant difference was found in the third molar development between males and females, and between maxilla and mandible.

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