Transcript for:
Maxillary First Molar

Maxillary first molar is the 6th tooth from  the midline. Its tooth number in FDI system   is 1 6 and 2 6, in Universal System 3 and 14 and  in Zsygmondy Palmar System the tooth number is 6   with appropriate quadrant brackets. It is the 1st  permanent tooth to erupt in the arch. It erupts   posterior to the 2nd deciduous molar, not removing  any of the primary teeth. Thus, like all permanent   molars, it is not a succedenous tooth as it has no  predecessor. It is positioned approximately at the   middle of a fully grown jaw antero-posteriorly.  Due to the significance of its location it is   also called the 'Cornerstone'. Maxillary 1st  molar is the strongest tooth in the arch. It has   4 well-formed cusps and a 5th supplemental cusp  called the 'fifth cusp' or 'Cusp of Carabelli'.   The 5th cusp is unique to maxillary first molar  and not seen in any other tooth. As with all   maxillary molars it has a strong anchorage  with 3 roots, lingual, mesiobuccal and   distobuccal. Maxillary first molar develops from  5 developmental lobes. One lobe for each cusp.   The function of molars is grinding. Maxillary  first molar erupts at the age of 6 years. Coming   to measurements. The cervico-occlusal length  of the crown is 7.5 mm. The length of both the   buccal roots is 12 mm and lingual root is 13 mm.  Mesio-distal diameter of the crown is 10 mm and at   cervix is 8 mm. The bucco-lingual diameter of the  crown is 11 mm and at cervix is 10 millimeters.   The cervical line has a curvature of 1 mm on  mesial side and on distal side it is flat. The   morphology of teeth is studied under 5 aspects,  let us start with the 1st aspect, buccal aspect.   The outline form of the crown is trapezoidal  with the shorter side towards the cervix and   longer side towards the cusps. Both buccal cusps,  mesio-buccal cusp and disto-buccal cusp are seen.   Where the mesio-buccal cusp is larger. Though, the  disto-buccal cusp is sharper as its cuspal slopes   meet at a right angle. Whereas cuspal slopes of  the mesio-buccal cusp meet at an obtuse angle.   Parts of lingual cusp, mesio-lingual cusp  and disto-lingual cusp are also seen.   The mesial contact area, by which the tooth  contacts the 2nd premolar is approximately at   the junction of occlusal third and middle  third. Whereas, the distal contact area,   by which the tooth contacts the second molar is at  the middle of middle third. The distal outline of   the crown is more convex than the mesial outline.  From the buccal aspect, more of distal surface is   visible than the mesial surface. This is because,  the crown from the occlusal aspect is rhomboidal   in shape, in which the disto-buccal line angle  is obtuse. This makes the distal surface visible   from the buccal aspect. The cervical line is  irregular or slightly convex towards the root.   A buccal developmental groove is seen in  the middle of the buccal surface between   the two cusps, which runs cervically and  terminates half way from the cervical line.   Faint concavities are seen lateral to the terminus  of the groove running in proximal directions.   All three roots are visible from this  aspect. The root trunk bifurcates at   about 4 mm from the cervical line into  mesio-buccal root and disto-buccal root.   The lingual root is partially  seen and is slightly longer.   A developmental groove is seen running on the  root starting at the bifurcation and ending   at the cervical line. Next, the lingual aspect.  The outline features of the crown from the buccal   aspect are same in the lingual aspect as well.  From the lingual aspect both the lingual cusps   mesio-lingual cusp and disto-lingual cusp are seen  and also the 5th cusp. No part of the buccal cusp   are visible, as they are completely hidden by  the lingual cusps. The mesio-lingual cusp is   larger than the disto-lingual cusp, forming almost  3/5th of the diameter of the crown mesio-distally.   Its cuspal slopes meet at an obtuse angle  whereas the disto-lingual cusp is more spherical.   The Cusp of Carabelli is seen attached to the  lingual surface of the mesio-lingual cusp.   It is generally 2 mm cervical  to the mesio-lingual cusp tip.   Like the buccal developmental groove, a lingual  developmental groove is present between the two   lingual cusps running cervically. All 3 roots are  visible with the larger lingual root in front and   parts of the mesio-buccal and disto-buccal roots  on the sides. Next, the mesial aspect. The outline   form is trapezoidal with the shorter side towards  the cusps and the longer side towards the cervix.   Only 3 cusps are seen, mesio-lingual cusp,  mesio-buccal cusp and 5th cusp. The buccal   outline is generally convex with its height of  contour in the cervical third. A shallow concavity   is seen just occlusal to the height of contour,  which was also seen from the buccal aspect.   The lingual outline is smoothly convex with  its height of contour in the middle third.   The cervical line is convex and the convexity is  towards the crown. The mesial marginal ridge is   seen in the occlusal third confluent with the  mesio-buccal and mesio-lingual cuspal ridges.   Only 2 roots, lingual root and mesio-buccal root  are visible from this aspect. The bifurcation of   the trunk is more cervical in comparison  to the bifurcation from the buccal aspect.   The mesio-buccal root is almost 2/3rd the width  of the root trunk at the bifurcation. The lingual   root has a 'banana-like' shape due to a *buccal  curvature. Coming to the next, distal aspect.   The gross outline of the mesial aspect is similar  to the distal aspect as well. Some differences   are, only the distal cusps, disto-buccal cusp  and disto-lingual cusp are seen from this aspect.   The distal marginal ridge is slightly more  cervical than the mesial margin ridge,   because of which the triangular ridges on the  occlusal surface are visible. All 3 roots are   visible from this aspect. The disto-buccal root  is narrowest at its base among all the 3 roots.   The bifurcation is more apical on the distal  side about 5 mm from the cervical line.