A community based study on the time of eruption of permanent 2^nd molar teeth to establish the age of an Individual was undertaken on 500 subjects (250 males and 250 females) residing in Dharan, eastern Nepal in the age group of 10–14 yrs. Correlation between the age and eruption time of individual tooth was calculated stage wise in both jaws of both the sexes.
Eruption time of each tooth was to vary not only from population to population but also with in the same population. This is why the present study was undertaken in view of this because there is a significant time lag between the cutting of the tooth in to the oral cavity and completion of eruption (i.e. completion of bite), and hence it was felt that in age determination cases, their actual age of eruption should be taken in to account than presence or absence of 2nd molar in the jaw.