Dentoalveolar surgeryPrevalence of Visible Third Molars in the United States Population: How Many Individuals Have Third Molars?
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Trained, calibrated dental hygienists obtained the NHANES data in nonclinical settings. The authors' cross-sectional analyses of NHANES data included all participants examined in the NHANES for 2001 through 2002, 2009 through 2010, and 2011 through 2012. Data were available on the presence or absence of visible third molars. A visible third molar was a tooth with any anatomic component visible, defined in the NHANES surveyor's manual as “any part of the tooth projects through the gum.”3 The
Results
Demographic characteristics of participants studied in the NHANESs of 2001 through 2002, 2009 through 2010, and 2011 through 2012 were similar during the decade (Table 1). Differences appeared to mimic changes in the US population within that time frame. For example, larger numbers of non-white participants were sampled in the NHANES of 2011 through 2012 compared with 2001 through 2002 (64 vs 48%, respectively). Education levels were higher for participants in the NHANES of 2011 through 2012
Discussion
The data from NHANESs conducted during the first decade of the 21st century suggest that the prevalence of visible third molars has changed little for the US population, as assessed by cross-sectional analyses by 10-year age cohorts. Although participants within each 2-year survey were not the same and were not followed over time, clinical patterns of care and the public's attitudes and preferences for treatment of third molars seem to have remained the same in this decade. However, in each
Acknowledgments
The authors recognize and appreciate the support for this project from the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Periodontal Medicine, University of North Carolina.
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Wisdom teeth, periodontal disease, and C-reactive protein in US adults
2020, Public HealthCitation Excerpt :Until now, only one US national study reported on the population prevalence of visible third molars, also using NHANES data.30 In that study, based on the NHANES 2011–2012, Magraw and colleagues reported unweighted M3 prevalences of 50% and 47% among US adults aged 30–39 years old and 50–59 years old, respectively, retaining M3.30 Our findings were weighted using the NHANES sample weights and show somewhat lower prevalence in these age groups.
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2020, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryAge of patient at the extraction of the third molar
2018, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryCitation Excerpt :When only the youngest cohorts of our investigation are observed, a similar predominance in females as those reported in earlier studies from surgical units emerges. Findings of female predominance related to age are also found in the epidemiological study conducted by Magraw et al.4, in which men were more likely than women to have more third molars in all age groups up to the age of 70 years and thus, we can indirectly estimate that extractions were more likely in women than in men. However, there were major differences in the origin or background of the subjects between our study and the U.S. study.
Signs of disease occur in the majority of third molars in an adult population
2017, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryContrasting Patterns for Missing Third Molars in the United States and Sweden
2017, Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryCitation Excerpt :Although the present data are the only population data on the prevalence of third molars from developed countries, the data represents population samples several decades apart in time. Data from the United States on third molars available since 2000 suggest that treatment patterns have been similar since the turn of the century.2 However, no comparable published Scandinavia data are available for third molar treatment over time.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None of the authors reported any disclosures.