Managing Curvatures in an Atypical Mandibular Third Molar: “Radix Paramolaris”

Third molars are known for morphological variations and atypical anatomy. Although these teeth pose difficulty in root canal treatment due to limited accessibility however, retaining third molars has gained importance in the present scenario due to their crucial role in serving as an abutment or in auto transplantation cases. This case report presents a case of Radix Paramolaris in mandibular third molar with severe curvatures of root canals in different planes and discusses its management with controlled memory files and tactile-controlled activation technique. Keywords: Radix Paramolaris, Curved canals, Controlled memory files, Tactile-controlled activation technique.

Evaluating the Relationship between Mandibular Third Molar and Mandibular Canal with Semiautomatic Segmentation: A Pilot Study on CBCT Datasets

Inferior alveolar nerve injury is the main complication in mandibular third molar surgery. In this context, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has become of crucial importance in evaluating the relationship between mandibular third molar and inferior alveolar nerve. Due to the growing interest in preoperative planning in oral surgery, several post-processing techniques have been implemented to obtain three-dimensional reconstructions of a volume of interest. In the present study, segmentation techniques were retrospectively applied to CBCT images in order to evaluate whether post-processing could offer better visualization of the structures of interest. Forty CBCT examinations performed for inferior third molar impaction were analyzed. Segmentation and volumetric reconstructions were performed. A dataset composed of multiplanar reconstructions for each study case, including segmented images, was submitted for evaluation to two oral surgeons, two general practitioners and four residents in oral surgery. The visualization of root morphology, canal course, and the relationship with mandibular cortical bone on both native CBCT and segmented images were assessed. Inter-rater agreement showed values of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) above 0.8 for all the examined parameters. Oral surgeons presented higher ICC values (p < 0.05). Segmented images can improve preoperative evaluation of the third molar and its relationship with the surrounding anatomical structures compared to native CBCT images. Further evaluation is needed to validate these preliminary results.

Automated Prediction of Extraction Difficulty and Inferior Alveolar Nerve Injury for Mandibular Third Molar Using a Deep Neural Network

Extraction of mandibular third molars is a common procedure in oral and maxillofacial surgery. There are studies that simultaneously predict the extraction difficulty of mandibular third molar and the complications that may occur. Thus, we propose a method of automatically detecting mandibular third molars in the panoramic radiographic images and predicting the extraction difficulty and likelihood of inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury. Our dataset consists of 4903 panoramic radiographic images acquired from various dental hospitals. Seven dentists annotated detection and classification labels. The detection model determines the mandibular third molar in the panoramic radiographic image. The region of interest (ROI) includes the detected mandibular third molar, adjacent teeth, and IAN, which is cropped in the panoramic radiographic image. The classification models use ROI as input to predict the extraction difficulty and likelihood of IAN injury. The achieved detection performance was 99.0% mAP over the intersection of union (IOU) 0.5. In addition, we achieved an 83.5% accuracy for the prediction of extraction difficulty and an 81.1% accuracy for the prediction of the likelihood of IAN injury. We demonstrated that a deep learning method can support the diagnosis for extracting the mandibular third molar.

Postoperative Complications of Impacted Mandibular Third Molar Extraction Related to Patient’s Age and Surgical Difficulty Level: A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study

Mandibular third molar surgical extraction, either partially erupted or fully impacted, is the most common surgical procedure in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS). However, this procedure can be associated with many postoperative complications including persistent pain, swelling, trismus, and paresthesia due to nerve injury. This study aimed to identify the correlation of postoperative complications with patient’s age, sex, and surgical difficulty level. This study was a cross-sectional retrospective and single-center research conducted on patients with a history of mandibular third molar surgical extraction in the period between 2017 and 2019 at Dental and Oral Hospital Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia. The researchers assessed the factors of age, sex, and surgical difficulty level regarding postoperative complications on the first day of the surgery and after one week on the 7th day of it. Among 916 respondents, the majority of the sample was females (59%) and the dominant age group (60.9%) was the age group of 21–30 years while the dominant surgical difficulty level was shown by the advanced cases group (77%). The statistical analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between surgical difficulty level and postoperative complications including pain, trismus, and paresthesia on the first-day assessment. On the other hand, age was significantly related to complications like pain, swelling, and trismus on the first-week assessment. Age and surgical difficulty level were the most common risk factors of the mandibular third molar extraction postoperative complications. Dentists should take into consideration that older patients (≥51 years) and patients with complex surgical level are more vulnerable to severe postoperative complications.

Standing Intraoral Extraction of the Right Mandibular Third Molar Tooth in a Cow Utilizing Tooth Sectioning

A 2-year-old Holstein heifer presented to a university teaching hospital with an apical tooth infection of the right mandibular third molar. A standing oral extraction technique was attempted for tooth removal; however, the molar could not be delivered intact. A tooth sectioning technique was performed, and the affected molar was successfully delivered. Three months postextraction, the heifer had fully recovered, and the extraction site had healed. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first description of a tooth extraction in a cow using a tooth sectioning technique. This case describes an alternative technique for tooth removal in cattle with an apical tooth infection. The clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic features of this case may be helpful to clinicians when they approach similar cases in the future.

The Effect of Oral Ketorolac Compared to Ibuprofen on Edema, Trismus, and Pain After Mandibular Third Molar Surgery

Background: Latent third molar extraction is the most common surgery in dentistry. Common complications of this surgery include pain, swelling, and trismus. To control these side effects, several drugs have been developed and evaluated in various studies. However, the present study is the first one to compare the effects of ibuprofen and ketorolac on pain, swelling, and trismus after molar surgery. Methods: This study was a split-mouth clinical trial. To conduct the trial, 20 candidates were selected from among patients referring to Surgery Department of the Dentistry School at Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences for mandibular third molar removal surgery. The patients were divided into two groups after the surgery: one group received ibuprofen, and the other one received ketorolac. Pain, swelling, and trismus were evaluated prior to the surgical procedure, 24 hours later, and one week after the surgery. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 by using Wilcoxon statistical tests and paired t test. Results: Ibuprofen and ketorolac had similar effects on pain relief (P value>0.05). Studying the two groups produced similar results regarding improvement in mouth opening (P value>0.05). Improvement pace of the postoperative swelling was significantly faster in the group receiving ketorolac compared to the one receiving ibuprofen (P value <0.05). Conclusions: It was concluded that ibuprofen and ketorolac had positive and almost similar effects on pain control, edema, and trismus after molar surgery. However, ketorolac was more effective in controlling edema after surgery.