Frequency of common pathologies associated with impacted mandibular third molars teeth

ABSTRACT

Teeth that fail to erupt within the dental arch due to any hindrance in its path of eruption wheth-er it is a soft tissue lesion or any bony lesion that is causing hindrance are called impacted teeth. Mandibular third molar tooth is usually the last tooth to erupt in the oral cavity. The pathological changes associated with the impacted 3rd molar are cystic changes which include Dentigerous cysts ,Odontogenic keratocyst and Calcifying Odontogenic cyst .Ameloblastoma ,Myxoma and Odontogenic fibroma are the commonest neoplasms .Soft tissue pathological changes are hyperplasia's ,inflam-mation and calcification are the common findings around the impacted 3rd molar teeth. The present study is a descriptive retrospective study conducted to evaluate the frequency of pathological changes associated with impacted 3rd molar. The most common age group amongst these patients was second and third decade of life .The male to female ratio of these patients was 1 1.86. Age range was 17 to 50 years, mean age of 24.16 SD + 7.05.The present study will help to support the prophylactic removal of impacted 3rd molar as some of these pathological changes may be life threatening