Association between mandibular third molar impaction patterns, second molar caries, and pericoronitis: a cross-sectional study in a syrian population

Key Points

• This study investigates how the patterns of mandibular third molar impaction relate to caries in adjacent second molars and the incidence of pericoronitis.
• Conducted a cross-sectional analysis including 619 mandibular third molars from 365 Syrian patients.
• Classified impaction patterns using Winter's and Pell & Gregory's criteria; recorded distal caries and pericoronitis occurrence.
• Statistical analysis evaluated associations with significance set at p < 0.05.
• Mesioangular impaction was the most frequent type (55.3%), with Class A impaction prevalent in 64% of cases.
• Pericoronitis was observed in 5.7% and significantly associated with vertical impaction (p = 0.010) and Class A molars (p = 0.001).
• Distal caries affected 12.6% of molars, primarily in patients older than 26 years, with no gender differences (p = 0.791).