Mandibular Second Molar Periodontal Parameters after Surgical Extraction of Adjacent Impacted Third Molar

Introdouction: Impacted mandibular third molar surgery may affect periodontal status of the adjacent second molar. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in periodontal health parameters distal to the adjacent second molar following surgical extraction of an impacted mandibular third molar. Materials and methods: We selected 50 subjects with a mean age of 22.8 (ranging from 18 to 25) years, of which 42 completed the study. Patients had no systemic problems and had a mesioangular impacted mandibular third molar categorized at C1 class based on Pell and Greogory classification. PD (Probing Depth) and AL (Attachment Level) were measured before surgery and four months after surgery on the distal aspect of adjacent second molar. Data analyses were conducted by using SPSS Software (Version22) and a probability level of 0.05 was used throughout. The results were analyzed statistically using paired-sample t-test and ANOVA (repeated measures). Results: Surgical extraction of fully impacted mesioangular third molar resulted in statistically significant decrease in PD on the distal aspect of mandibular second molar (p<0.001). AL improvement was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Surgical extraction of mesioangular deeply impacted mandibular third molars causes decreased PD at the distal aspect of the second molar and improves AL. Therefore, periodontal improvement was shown in our study. But further research that reduces the limitations of this study and the use radiographic follow-up can provide better results.