Incidence of Impacted Mandibular Third Molars with Their Pattern and Associated Complications in Nepalese Population

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. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted on 945 patients (males=591, females=354) aged between 18- 50 years of age who had mandibular third molars impacted. The difficulty index for mandibular third molar for angulation and depth was based on Winter's classification (1926). RESULTS: The most common type of impaction seen was Mesio- angular with (32%) followed by horizontal 264 (27.8%), then followed by other types. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 CONCLUSION: Impacted third molars are a common observation in routine dental practice. The impaction rate of third molars is higher as compared to other teeth in the dentition. The high prevalence found in the present study, with more than half of these Nepalese adult patients having at least one impacted third molar.