Relationship Between the Eruption of Third Molar Teeth and the Growing Status of the Assamese Inhabitants of a North-Eastern State of India

Objectives Even though permanent teeth eruption time may vary, the tooth eruption stage represents a critical developmental milestone, which may help in the monitoring of the child's growing status towards adolescence. This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between the third molar eruption (TME) and investigate any possible association with the body mass index (BMI), which is used to monitor the growth of children and adolescents. Methods We included 1060 student participants aged 14 to 26 years from selected educational institutions in Assam for this study. We performed a conventional clinical dental examination to determine the stages of TME. Moreover, to calculate the individual height and weight, we have carried out a thorough physical examination to assess the BMI and rule out any visible congenital developmental anomalies. Result The overall mean age of the status of no eruption (NE), incomplete eruption (IE), and complete eruption (CE) categories of the third molar in the current research were 17.39±2.273, 18.67±2.282 and 20.33±2.566 years, respectively, and the difference in mean age was statistically significant (p-value <0.05). Among the 1060 participants assessed, 163 (15.38%) were underweight, 625 (58.97%) belonged to the average category, 207 (19.52%) were at risk of being overweight, and 65 (6.13%) were obese. The CE in both average and overweight categories was 109 (17.4%) and 37 (17.9%). Similarly, the NE status of the third molar in the underweight and obese category was 120 (73.6%) and 39 (60.0%), respectively. These differences in the frequency of TME in different BMI categories were found statistically significant (p-value <0.05). Conclusion The result shows a substantial relationship between the mean age of eruption of third molar teeth and BMI among children and adolescents in 14 years to 26 years in the Assamese population. Further, the mean age can be used in forensic age determination.