• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.701-704
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• 2004

In this case, we would like to discuss about the single rooted deciduous mandibular first molar. The deciduous mandibular molar of a five years old boy was shown to have a single root, bilaterally. Ordinarily, the maxilary molars have three roots and the mandibular molars have two roots. However, when the hertwig's epithelial root sheath do not invaginate properly during tooth development, root fusion can occur from the absence of root separation. Molars with fused roots not only have unfavorable crown to root ratio, but also according to many reports, have higher probability of having multiple congenitally missing teeth or dens invaginatus in the maxillary incisors, consequently requiring preventive dental treatment In addition, disorders such as ectodermal dysplasia, syndactyly, clinodactyly, bluish sclera can also be related to this condition. Root fusion is known to be of autosomal recessive inheritance. Up to date, single rooted molars have been reported several times in permanent dentitions but hardly in deciduous dentition, which is the motive for this paper.