CAUSES OF REMOVAL OF IMPACTED MANDIBULAR THIRD MOLAR IN PATIENTS VISITING KHYBER COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY (KCD), PESHAWAR

Abstract

The mandibular third molar is the last tooth which appear in the oral cavity typically during the late teens or early twenties, after the jaws have finished their growth. Impacted teeth can lead to impaction of food, pericoronitis, caries, pain and development of pathology. Therefore, impacted third molar prophylactic removal is becoming a common practice nowadays. The current cross-sectional study aimed to identify the causes of removal of impacted mandibular third molar in patients visiting Khyber College of Dentistry (KCD), Peshawar. The data from 107 participants was collected through a structured questionnaire and clinical records of patients. The demographic information was recorded using a questionnaire. The data was summarized using descriptive statistics. A total of 107 patients diagnosed with third molar impactions were evaluated. The patients were categorized into 4 age groups. The age ranged from 15-40 years, with a mean age of 27.5 years. The standard deviation was 7.22 years. There were 58 (54.20 %) male patients and 49 (45.79 %) female patients. The male-to-female ratio of the cases was 1.18:1. The prevalence of mandibular tooth impaction was highest (63.55 %) in age group 18-25 years. The prevalence rate decreased with the increasing age, i-e., (36.44%) in age group 26-35 years. No cases were reported in below 18 years and above 36 years age group. The most common reasons and causes associated with the removal of impacted third molars was pericoronitis (41.12 %), followed by dental carries (30.84 %), impaction diagnosis (24.29 %) and orthodontic reasons (3.73 %) with or without trismus. The p value was ≈0.218. Several pre-operative complications were observed in both male and females patients with impacted mandibular third molars. The most common complication was swelling, observed in 55 (51.40 %) of patients. Trismus was the second most common pre-operative complication observed in 33 (30.84 %) of patients, followed by pus discharge 6 (5.60 %). Furthermore, p value was 0.33, which suggests that there is no statistically significant association between gender and pre-operative complications