PREVALENCE OF MISSING FIRST MOLAR ON SOUTH INDIAN POPULATION- A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

The aim was to determine the prevalence of missing first molar in patients of dakshina kannada population in the last 5 years.A random sample of 2000 patients per year for 5 years from a total population of 16,56,165 of dakshina kannada district, india were included for the study. Consent form was duly obtained and patient was examined clinically for loss of first molar and history was recorded for the reason of loss of first molar. The relation to specificity of tooth, age, sex, location, diet, aetiology, brushing method and frequency to find any signification association. The prevalence is about 36.06% over these 5 years of study with mandibular right first molar has the higher prevalence of 30.64% than maxilla. It is more commonly seen from 4 th decade with rural population has higher predominance of 36.5% than urban population of 35.76%. Dental caries is the main aetiology factor behind the loss of first molar which constitutes of 75.62% than periodontitis of 22.76%. Based on occupation house wife (47.31%), labourer (40.03%) shows higher prevalence than others.The most common cause for the loss of first molars was found to be caries followed by periodontal disease. Thus it still reflects the need for dental health education in community and a positive attitude towards dental health.