Carabelli's trait in Indian students at Manipal, Karnataka

Occurrence of the various forms of Carabelli's trait on maxillary first permanent molars was studied in 376 Indian students at Manipal, Karnataka, a state in south India. The trait was found absent in 64.4% of the teeth studied. Slight tubercles were found more often than pronounced tubercles and more tubercles were found in males than females; conversely the absence of the trait was observed more often in girls than boys. The sample was divided into two groups. Group I consisted of North Indians and Group II consisted of South Indians. Variations in occurrence of the trait between North Indian and South Indian students were studied and it was found to occur almost equally in both groups. The study was extended to observe variations in occurrence of the trait between Indian students of Indian and Foreign nationality but no significant variation was observed.