Prevalence of impacted teeth in a Brazilian subpopulation

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of impacted teeth in a subpopulation of Brazilian patients based on the retrospective analysis of panoramic radiographs obtained at an oral radiology clinic. Out of 1,977 panoramic radiographs, 1,352 fulfilled inclusion criteria, and 22,984 teeth were assessed. Data were statistically analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov's and Levene's tests; significance was set at 5%. The number of impacted teeth was assessed using analysis of variance and Tukey's post-hoc test. Our results showed significant differences for tooth type and patient age when analyzed separately (p < 0.05); gender did not show significant results (p > 0.05). Correlations between age and gender showed significant differences (p < 0.05), as did the correlations between age, gender and tooth type (p < 0.05). Mandibular molars were the teeth most frequently affected (p < 0.05), followed by maxillary molars (p < 0.05). Other tooth types did not present significant differences among themselves (p > 0.05). Patients aged 22 years or younger were the most frequent ones (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between age groups 37 and 51 years and 52+ (p > 0.05). According to the methodology here employed, gender did not affect tooth impaction, whereas age (22-36 years) and tooth type (mandibular third molars) strongly influenced results.