Evaluation of Recently Proposed Scales as Predictors of Mandibular Third Molar Extraction Difficulty

Background: The Prediction of extraction difficulty impacted mandibular third molar (M3M) is extremely important for both patients and clinicians. Recently, many new difficulty-estimating indices had been proposed, among them are, Zhang et al., Kim Pernambuco, Lainez Roy al. indices. This study aimed to evaluate the validity these scales as preoperative predictors surgical removal M3M. Material Methods: five under predicted a series 50-impacted M3M preoperatively, postoperative was assessed with Parant scale (PS) by time required surgery (TS). Results: proposed low moderate sensitivity (21%-45%, 41%-67%) variable in their specificity (21%-86%, 36%-85%). Only three out evaluated have shown statistically significant correlation both, operation technique; namely, Conclusions: can be used difficulty.