Prevalence and Risk Factors for Complications of Mandibular Third Molar Surgery

Background: Surgical extraction of third molar is one of the most common surgeries performed by maxillofacial surgeons. This study was aimed to assess the incidence of complications after surgical removal of mandibular third molar and their risk factors.Materials and methods: This study was performed prospectively. Patients referred to the School of Dentistry for the surgical removal of mandibular third molar were included. Surgical time, number and form of roots, as well as demographic data was recorded. 24 hours later occurrence of complications including bleeding, swelling, pain, trismus, paresthesia and fracture were assessed. The frequency of reported complications, as well as the influence of risk factors was analyzed.Results: A total of 101 patients with a mean age of 22.95±1.93 years were included. All patients showed mouth opening limitation, pain and swelling. Two cases had paresthesia (1.98%) and 31 cases (30.7%) complained of excessive bleeding. The average postoperative pain based on visual analogue scale was 4.01±0.76. Pain was lower in men. Trismus and bleeding was less in teeth with conical root compared to teeth with separate roots. In addition, it was shown that the teeth with more roots had higher occurrence of pain, swelling, trismus and bleeding. All of the complications increased with increasing surgical time.Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of complications following wisdom tooth surgery, in order to control them, it is necessary to be aware of the risk factors and inform patients