Presentation of maxillofacial injuries in the 2005 earthquake victims

Earthquakes cause a lot of damage to life and property. Maxillofacial injuries constitute an important proportion of injuries in earthquakes and some 13% of the trauma patients after the earthquakes suffer from maxillofacial injuries. The objective of this study was to assess the presentation of maxillofacial injuries in earthquake victims. This descriptive study was conducted at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Section Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from October 8[th], 2005 to January 8[th], 2006. Three hundred and seventy-eight patients were included in this study in the three months following the October 8[th], 2005 earthquake on consecutive nonprobability sampling basis. Isolated facial bone fractures rather than the multiple bone fractures were the commonest type of fractures in earthquake victims. A significant number of patients presented with only soft tissue injuries and no bony fractures. Although considerable number of patients with fracture of multiple facial bones were present in the earthquake victims but isolated facial bone fractures and soft tissue injuries were the commonest type of injuries

Frequency of unerupted mandibular third molar in mandibular angle fractures

Fractures of the mandibular angle are common and comprise 31% of all mandibular fractures. Multiple recent studies report a 2-3 fold increased risk for mandibular angle fractures when un-erupted mandibular third molars are present. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of un-erupted mandibular third molar in mandibular angle fractures. This crosssectional study was conducted at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad from April to October 2009. One hundred and two patients were included both from the outdoor and ward on consecutive non-probability sampling base. Data were recorded on a structured Performa and analysed using SPSS-16. A hemi-mandible containing un-erupted mandibular third molar was seen to have a 1.41 times the risk of mandibular angle fracture then a hemi-mandible containing an erupted mandibular third molar. The presence of unerupted mandibular third molar is associated with an increased risk for mandibular angle fracture.