Objecti ve: To investi gate the clinical and radiographic aspects of third molars with respect to the incidence of the anatomic positi ons and agenesis in students from a public school of São Luís, MA, Brazil Method: This was a descripti ve cross-secti onal study of the clinical and radiographic characteristi cs of third molars in a populati on of students of both genders aged 18 to 21 years. A total of 155 pati ents were examined clinically and radiographically (panoramic radiograph of the jaws) between May and November 2006. The 155 students had 531 teeth present and 89 absent. From the teeth that were present, only 462 had complete root formati on and were evaluated according to the Winter and Pell & Gregory positi ons. Congenital absence of teeth was also noted. The data were recorded in appropriate charts, tabulated in the EPI-INFO 2000 soft ware and analyzed using the Chi-square test to verify the existence of associati ons between the study variables, with level of signifi cance set at 5%. Results: The results showed signifi cant diff erences for the mesial (p=0.0001), distal (p=0.0278) and horizontal (p=0.0179) positi ons for the diff erent third molars. No signifi cant diff erences were found for the verti cal positi on (p=0.1354), but it was the most frequent positi on in the sample. Regarding the Pell & Gregory classifi cati on, no signifi cant diff erences were observed (p>0.05). Agenesis was considerably frequent in this populati on (14.4%). Conclusion: According to Winter, the most frequent positi ons were verti cal followed by mesial, distal and horizontal, while according to Pell & Gregory were Class I, II and III and Positi ons A, B and C. Agenesis was a frequent occurrence in the sample.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.