WAR LINES OR WINTER’S LINES

George Winter’s three imaginary lines are also known as the WAR lines. They are used to detect the position and depth of an impacted 3rd molar

1. The 1st imaginary line is the Winter's white line which tells us about the inclination of the impacted 3rd molar. The white line is drawn on the IOPA along the erupted molars and extended posteriorly.

George Winter’s three imaginary lines are also known as the WAR lines. They are used to detect the position and depth of an impacted 3rd molar.

In case of the disto-angular impaction the line on the 3rd molar converges to meet the white line anterior to the 3rd molar.

In case of mesioangular impaction the line on the 3rd molar converges to meet the white line posterior to the 3rd molar.

In the vertically impacted tooth the white line is parallel to the line drawn on the occlusal surface of the 3rd molar.

2. The 2nd imaginary line, the AMBER, is drawn along the shadow of the external oblique ridge that is lying distal to the 3rd molar and extended to the crest of the interdental bone of the molars.

This line shows us the amount of crown that will be visible after reflection of the soft tissue, i.e. the portion which is above this line is not covered by the bone. The portion which is below this line is encased in the bone. This gives us an idea of the amount of bone cutting that will be required prior to the elevation of the tooth.

3. The 3rd imaginary line, is the red line which is used to measure the depth at which the tooth lies within the mandible. It is a perpendicular dropped from the amber line to an imaginary point of application for an elevator.

The length of the red line shows how deeply embedded the tooth is. The more the length the more difficult is the extraction.