Introduction:

dental agenesis is one of the most common craniofacial anomalies in human development, requiring an evaluation of this phenomenon.

Objective:

To characterize the behavior of the absence of third molars in second semester students of Dentistry.

Methods:

observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, developed at the Universidad Regional Autónoma de los Andes, in the academic period November 2022 - March 2023. In a simple random probabilistic sample of 117 patients, the application of a questionnaire allowed obtaining information that led to the variables studied. Descriptive statistics analysis was used, respecting medical ethics.

Results:

students aged 19 years old predominated in the research (43,5 %), being the female sex the most representative (63,2 %). Parallel type A (36,8 %) was the most affected, with 64,1 % of the students presenting absence of the third molar. 35,9 % of the participants had the four complete molars, 28,2 % were missing all of them, while among those who were missing at least one, those who had the lower elements intact were predominant (10,3 %). Of the participants, 66,7 % had a clinical diagnosis, while 63,2 % had a radiological diagnosis.

Conclusions:

The study allowed us to know the characteristics of the sample, identifying the occurrence of agenesis of third molars, whose percentage was not low compared to other studies, detailing the importance of clinical and radiological criteria for its diagnosis.

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