Prevalence of impacted mandibular third molars in population of Arab Israeli: a retrospective study

Impaction may be defined as the failure of complete eruption into a normal functional position of one tooth within normal time due to lack of space in the dental arch, caused by obstruction by another tooth or development in an abnormal position. The mandibular third molar is the most frequently impacted tooth. The incidence varies from 9.5% to 68% in different populations. Methods: The study was conducted in Center for Dentistry Research and Aesthetics, Jatt, Israel .Study represents retrospective analysis of panoramic radiographs (orthopantomograms) of patients referred to Center for Dentistry Research and Aesthetics, Jatt, Israel from January 2006 to December 2015 . Results: A total of 1076 patients,649(60,3%) males ,and 427 (39,7%) females visited Center for Dentistry Research and Aesthetics, Jatt, Israel between January2006 and December2015. . A total of 206 patients met the inclusion criteria. The age ranged from 17 to 55years, with a mean age of 28.1 years and the standard deviation was 5.8 years.The prevalence of impacted mandibular third molars for this study was 19,2%. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that males (62,2%) were more likely to present with impacted mandibular third molars than females (37,8%). The prevalence of third molar impactions was almost the same on both the left (47.8%) and right (52,2%) sides. This study also noted that mesio-angular impactions (50%) were the most common type of impaction. The least common form of impactions was the inverted types (0.3%). The prevalence of impacted mandibular third molars for this study was 19,2%.