Incidence of inferior alveolar nerve injury in mandibular third molar surgery

This paper documents the incidence of inferior alveolar nerve injury and resultant sensory disturbance encountered in the removal of 100 consecutive impacted mandibular third molars. Five cases of anesthesia and/or paresthesia resulted and all but one of these resolved within six months. The lack of direct correlation between surgical exposure of the neurovascular bundle intraoperatively and the proximity of radiographic images of tooth root and mandibular canal, with the occurrence of sensory deficit, is noted. Our findings support the 1979 Recommendations of NIHCDCRTM*, upon which the policy of informed consent regarding nerve injury was based.