• Charles E Anyanechi, Birch D Saheeb, and Uchenna C Okechi.
• Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Calabar/University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Calabar, Nigeria. ceanyanechi@gmail.com.
• Afr Health Sci. 2019 Mar 1; 19 (1): 178917941789-1794.

BackgroundThe prophylactic extraction of asymptomatic impacted mandibular third molar is a contentious issue in dental practice.ObjectiveTo evaluate symptomatic impacted mandibular third molars in patients 50 years and above, and determine the burden of the impaction on the adjacent second molar.MethodsThis was a prospective clinical study over a three-year period. The diagnosis of impacted mandibular third molar and their associated pathology was made by clinical and radiological examination. The data obtained were age, sex, type of impaction, reason for surgical extraction, and the clinical condition of the adjacent second molar.ResultsPatients 50 years and above were 33.4%, and those with impaction 22.8%, while the symptomatic cases were in 18.4% patients. The age of the patients ranged from 52 to 84 years with male: female ratio, 2.3:1. In all the asymptomatic impactions, the adjacent second molars were disease-free, whereas 73.6% of the adjacent second molar related to symptomatic cases were asymptomatic (P=0.001).ConclusionThis study showed that 15.9% of impactions in 18.4% of patients were symptomatic and required surgical extraction, whereas the burden of impaction on the adjacent second molar was 26.4%, and these required only preventive and restorative treatments.

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