Longitudinal Studies of the Natural History of Caries

I. Eruption Patterns of the Permanent Teeth

¹ Public Health Research, Development and Evaluation Group, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York

The average age and sequence of eruption of each of the permanent teeth was determined by analysis of serial observations of 16,000 children in Newburgh and Kingston, New York, preliminary to further longitudinal studies of dental-caries incidence. From the volume and type of data on which these estimates are based, it is felt that they represent the most reliable description of eruption chronology yet available.

In addition to the expected tendency for eruption to occur earlier in females, an interesting and consistent finding was a sex difference in eruption sequence. Comparisons of mean eruption times within several subgroups confirmed that appearance of the lower cuspid preceded that of upper and lower first bicuspids in females, while the reverse was true in males.

Consumption of fluoridated water (1.2 ppm) for varying periods of time had no discernible influence on eruption times or sequence.