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Upper first secondary molar tooth: anatomy, location and function

The permanent upper first molar, a large three-rooted grinding tooth whose roots lie close to the maxillary sinus. It grinds food.

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Highlighted in the model: Upper first secondary molar tooth. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Upper first secondary molar tooth at a glance

What it is
The permanent upper first molar, a large three-rooted grinding tooth whose roots lie close to the maxillary sinus.
Location
It lies in the upper dental arch, behind the second premolar; it usually has three roots.
Function
It grinds food.
Body system
Digestive · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA55699 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Typical eruption age: about 6 years.
  • FDI notation: 16 (right) and 26 (left).
  • It has four main cusps, sometimes with an extra cusp of Carabelli, and three roots: two buccal and one palatal.
  • Its roots lie close to the floor of the maxillary sinus and it is supplied mainly by the posterior superior alveolar nerve.

Clinical relevance

Infection of its roots can spread into the maxillary sinus, and extraction can open a channel between mouth and sinus.

Structures next to the upper first secondary molar tooth

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Upper first secondary molar tooth (FMA55699). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §23.1 Overview of the Digestive System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.