seminal paper regarding which tooth presents with the highest risk of caries

If you need a citation to use

• For a modern direct statement: use the 2023 paper on Dental Caries in Permanent First Molar and Its Association with Carious Primary Second Molar, which describes the permanent first molar as the most susceptible tooth to dental caries.

• For a stronger longitudinal/caries-prediction paper, but not specifically “which tooth is highest risk,” use Li Y, Wang W. Predicting caries in permanent teeth from caries in primary teeth: an eight-year cohort study. Journal of Dental Research. 2002;81(8):561–566.

Uncertainty

• Insufficient evidence from the provided sources to identify a single classic “seminal” paper that first established the permanent first molar as the highest-risk tooth.

• The evidence supports the conclusion that permanent first molars, not one specific universal tooth number, are generally the highest-risk tooth group for caries.