The etiology, prevalence, and sequelae of infraclusion of primary molars.

Dental infraclusion, teeth below the occlusal plane, is a common condition, especially in mandibular primary molars, with more than seventy references in the literature. Most claim infracluded molars do not exfoliate within normal time limits and must be extracted to prevent detrimental sequelae. The few documented studies on this topic suggest, however, that most infracluded teeth exfoliate normally; however, there is a tendency toward a delay of six months. The degree of infraclusion does not appear to correspond with exfoliation time. The frequent sequelae of severely infracluded teeth, space loss and molar tipping, may be prevented by either restoring the height of the affected tooth or by using space maintainers without extraction. The successors of infracluded molars reportedly develop normally and have few occlusal abnormalities.