Mohammad Ishfaq, Rahid Murtaza, Ashfaqur Rahim, Abdul Wahid.
Sensory impairments following surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;16(1):20-4.

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to investigate the importance of certain variables on the incidence of sensory impairments after the surgical extraction of impacted lower last molars. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected from a series of 300 consecutive patients referred to the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar for the removal of their impacted lower last molars. Patients were examined and treatment was planned in the standard manner. RESULTS: Out of 300 surgical extractions 18 (6%) cases of lingual nerve injury and 11 (3.67%) cases of inferior dental nerve injury were recorded. The frequency of nerve damage was found to be highest among house surgeons (19%) and lowest among Professors and Associate Professors (3.6%). Elevation of lingual flap was found to be associated with higher chances of lingual nerve injury. Incidence of nerve damage was found to be the highest (16%) when tooth sectioning and bone removal both were performed to extract the tooth. CONCLUSION: It is concluded from this study that operator`s experience, lingual flap retraction, bone cutting and tooth sectioning during tooth removal strongly influence the rate of nerve damage during third molar surgery while age and sex of the patients does nothing with the incidence of nerve damage during surgical removal of last molars.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com