Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Introduction: 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 Department of Dentistry, Dr Rajender Prasad government medical college Kangra, Himachal Pradesh (India) on pattern or etiology of impacted mandibular third molar. The data of the patients that came to the dental department seeking treatment between January 2017 and August 2018 were recorded. Following parameters were assessed. 1. Age. 2. Sex. 3. Etiology. 4. Location of impacted third mandibular third molar Right or Left. 5. Angulation (Winters classification). Results: A total of 21,106 patients, 10218 males and 10888 visited our institution between January 2017 and august. A total of 182 patients met the inclusion criteria. The age ranged from 18 to 60 years, with a mean age of 32.95±9.45 years. Among the 182 patients, there were 64 (35.2%) male patients and 118 (64.8%) female patients. The most prevalent type of impaction recorded was the mesio-angular position (52.2 %). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that females (64.8%) were more likely to present with impacted mandibular third molars than males (35.2%). 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 (52.2%) were the most common type of impaction. The least common form of impactions was the transverse types (0.5%). Keywords: surgical impaction, mandibular third molars, north Indian population