Position of mandibular third molars during eruption in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment

Introduction: the position of mandibular third molar during its eruption can influence on the outcome of orthodontic treatment or the need to turn to an orthodontic treatment again. Objective: to describe the position of mandibular third molars during eruption in patients who received orthodontic treatment at the dental office Desing Dental, in the city of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador. Method: a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out; the universe was constituted by the total of patients who received orthodontic treatment, patients between 13 and 33 years of age; the sampling applied was simple random and the sample selected gathered 23 patients, 11 male and 12 female. The information collected was obtained throught a documentary review of the radiographic reports, using a guide prepared for this purpose. The outcomes were presented in tables and were contrasted with those of other investigations. Ethical principles were respected. Results: the most common position of the third molars according to age and sex was as follow: From the 11 male patients, in 2 of them the position was vertical, 8 mesioangular and 1 horizontal; whereas in the 12 female patients, in two of them the position was vertical, 8 mesioangular and 2 distoangular. Conclusions: the most frequent position of third molars during eruption in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment was the mesioangular position