Kim Ji-Youn, Jee Hyeon-Gun, Song Hyun Chul, Kim Sun-Jong, Kim Myung-Rae
Division of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dentistry, College of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon, South Korea.
Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
J Dent Sci. 2017 Dec;12(4):354-359. doi: 10.1016/j.jds.2017.01.004. Epub 2017 Jun 13.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The surgical extraction of impacted third molars (ITMs) is a common surgical procedure in dentistry. If prophylactic removal of ITMs is beneficial, however, is a still disputed issue. The aim of this study was to analysis the pathologic changes in impacted third molars (ITMs) and adjacent teeth according to patient age groups in the Korean population to determine if the prophylactic removal of ITMs is to be supported or not.
A retrospective study of patients who underwent surgical extraction of impacted third molars was performed. The patients were divided into 5 groups according to their age. Each group was analyzed with respect to patients' chief complaints, specific pathologic conditions in ITMs, and the damage to adjacent teeth due to untreated ITMs.
In this study, 2883 impacted third molars in 1109 patients were analyzed. The most common patients' chief complaint was pain, and the frequency of pain was significantly higher in older age groups. The frequency and severity of pathologic changes in ITMs and adjacent second molars due to ITMs were increased with advancing age.
Based on the results of this study, we conclude that the prophylactic removal of ITMs that have a higher probability of pathologic changes can be considered to be a reasonable treatment modality in younger patients to reduce morbidity resulting from surgical extraction compared with patients who attained advanced age.
背景/目的：阻生第三磨牙（ITM）的外科拔除是牙科常见的外科手术。然而，预防性拔除ITM是否有益仍是一个有争议的问题。本研究的目的是分析韩国人群中不同年龄组患者的阻生第三磨牙（ITM）及相邻牙齿的病理变化，以确定是否支持预防性拔除ITM。
对接受阻生第三磨牙外科拔除的患者进行回顾性研究。根据年龄将患者分为5组。对每组患者的主要诉求、ITM的具体病理状况以及未治疗的ITM对相邻牙齿的损害进行分析。
本研究分析了1109例患者的2883颗阻生第三磨牙。患者最常见的主要诉求是疼痛，且疼痛频率在老年组显著更高。ITM及相邻第二磨牙因ITM导致的病理变化的频率和严重程度随年龄增长而增加。
基于本研究结果，我们得出结论，对于病理变化可能性较高的ITM，与老年患者相比，在年轻患者中考虑预防性拔除可被视为一种合理的治疗方式，以降低外科拔除带来的发病率。
