Variation in Cuspal Morphology in Maxillary First Permanent Molar with Report of 3 Cusp Molar- A Prevalence Study.

INTRODUCTION: Human teeth has always been known for morphological variations in both the crown and root structures. The corono-morphological variations can be in the form of extra cusp or missing cusp. Permanent maxillary first molars are the biggest teeth in maxillary arch and have a high anchorage value and are known for their four cusp and five cusp patterns, if present with cusp of Carebelli.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cuspal variations and quantification of cusps of permanent maxillary first molar in Malwa population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1249 individuals were studied at Government College of Dentistry, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, to evaluate the number of cusps in permanent maxillary first molars.

RESULTS: Of the studied 1249 individuals, permanent maxillary first molars had five cusps in 407 (32.6%) cases while 838 (67.08%) cases had four cusp and four (0.32%) cases had three cusps. The four cases having three cusp permanent maxillary first molars were present unilaterally and only in females.

CONCLUSION: This article emphasizes the presence of permanent maxillary first molar with only three cusps in the Malwa population of India. It also reviews the literature in respect to this rare anomaly and calls for continuous and close monitoring to report such cases in the future.