Assessment Of Difficulty Index Of Impacted Maxillary Third Molar Extractions: An Institutional Study

Abstract

Estimating the problem of removing third molars may be a common dilemma. However, the estimation of the problem related to maxillary third molar surgery has not yet been defined. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of difficulty and identify predictor variables related to the occurrence of difficulty with the removal of impacted maxillary third molars.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data was collected from patient records and the data was analysed between june 2019 to march 2020, Saveetha dental college and hospital, chennai. Predictor variables indicative of surgical difficulty were classified by their demographic, clinical, and radiographic aspects. Degree of surgical difficulty was categorized as low, moderate, or high based on the surgical technique used. Then the data was entered in spss software to obtain statistical analysis. Categorical variables were expressed in terms of frequency and percentage and bar graphs were plotted. The statistical significance of the associations were tested using chi - square test at p<0.05.

RESULTS: In males 16.67%of the extractions were minimally difficult, 15% of the extraction were moderately difficult and 18.33% of extraction were severely difficult.In females 13.33% of the extractions were minimally difficult, 18.33% of the extraction were moderately difficult and 18.33% of extraction were severely difficult. In cases of 18, 15% of the extractions were

minimally difficult, 10% of the extraction were moderately difficult and 26.67% of extraction

were very difficult. In cases of 28, 15% of the extractions were minimally difficult, 23.33%

of the extraction were moderately difficult and 10% of extraction were very difficult.

CONCLUSION: From the study we can conclude that the assessment of difficulty index in performing the maxillary third molar extractions reveals moderate to severe difficulty in most of the cases and it is influenced by various factors like age, periodontal condition and the complexity of the impaction and the co-morbidity of the Patients. For cases with a high degree of difficulty, identification of predictor variables could be useful for graduate students and inexperienced clinicians, to plan before executing the procedure, thus avoiding complications that always require complex management.