Furcal defects in dry mandibles. Part II: Severity of furcal defects.

Two hundred and eighty two first and second molar teeth from 100 dry mandibles of South African Negro skulls were scored by four degrees of severity of furcal involvement. The severity was judged by whether the furca was involved from one or both sides, by the depth of the defect on each side and by the sum of the depths of the defects on both lingual and buccal sides. Analysis of the frequencies of the scores show that: (1) First molars are more severely affected than second molars; (2) There is a general trend of scores 1 and 2 (normal and mild involvement) to be predominant in the 3rd decade of life, while by the 5th, 6th and 7th decades scores 3 and 4 (moderate and severe involvement) predominate; (3) The difference between the frequencies of all the scores for the right and left sides was not significant.