Fate of third molar in line of mandibular angle fracture - Retrospective study

The study aimed to answer for the question whether a tooth in line of fracture predispose to complications such as infection and thereby warranting removal of the plates.

Surgically rehabilitated patients for unilateral angle of mandible fractures at author's center from 2000 to 2013 were considered in this study. During the study period, about 116 cases fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and hence included in this study. All patients were treated by open, rigid fixation.

During the fracture reduction and immobilization, 52.6% (n = 61) cases, the third molar was extracted and in 47.4% (n = 55) cases, the tooth was preserved. Only two cases of infection that required the plate removal occurred by 3 months and another one case within the next 6 months. When the tooth in question was removed, infection did not occur. In all, 52.72% (n = 29) of the 55 cases preserved were needs to be extracted for various reasons. The most common being periodontal causes followed by periapical pathology. Statistically the relationship between demographic data and outcome measures were analyzed using Chi-square test bivariate statistics. A P < 0.05 was taken as significant.

The present study fails to identify any concrete factors that would predict the failure of the retained third molar that were involved in the line of mandibular fractures. The proof presented here, especially with low complication rates indicate that all impacted third molar along the line of fracture be removed and unless necessary, the partially erupted teeth would also be extracted. In such a situation, the rate of infection and survival of the third molar would have been entirely different.