Early eruption of a mandibular third molar in a 13-year-old female

Dental eruption is a dynamic and complex biological and physiological process that spans over several years and includes the formation of teeth and their migration in the jaws until they erupt in the mouth in their final functional position. Variation in the normal teeth eruption pattern is a common finding, but significant deviation from the established norms should alert us for some diagnostic procedures to be taken for assessment of the patient health and development.

Although permanent teeth eruption is under significant genetic control, various general factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, craniofacial morphology and body composition can influence this process. Most significant disturbances in teeth emergence is caused by systemic diseases; hypothyroidism, HIV, hypoparathyroidism and syndromes such as Down's syndrome, SOTO's syndrome, to name but a few.^1,2,3

A 13-year-old female patient visited the outpatient department with a complaint of pain in the left lower posterior region during the previous 6 months. She gave the history of intermittent medication from unregistered/unqualified medical practitioners for pain control.