Association of Oral Hygiene and Periodontal Health with Third Molar Pericoronitis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background. Pericoronitis is a painful inflammatory condition commonly associated with third molar teeth. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral hygiene and periodontal health status and the presence of pericoronitis in semi-impacted third molar teeth. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted, and 54 patients having at least one mandibular vertically semi-impacted third molar tooth with or without pericoronitis were consecutively enrolled. Subjects with pericoronitis and subjects with healthy third molars were selected according to symptoms in the gingiva overlying semi-impacted third molar teeth. Periodontal health status and oral hygiene were evaluated with the measures of plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and total number of sites with a probing depth PD ≥ 4 mm . The clinical data collected in this study was analyzed with Mann–Whitney U test using SPSS 20.0 package program. Results. The PI scores were found to be significantly higher in patients with pericoronitis ( p < 0.05 ). Although the GI scores and PD scores were higher in patients with pericoronitis, the difference did not reach statistical significance when compared with those in healthy subjects ( p > 0.05 ). Conclusion. The findings obtained in this study suggest that the amount of dental plaque was positively associated with third molar pericoronitis. Gingival and periodontal health conditions were similar between patients with and without pericoronitis. Improving oral hygiene and controlling dental plaque may help prevent third molar pericoronitis.

Lingual bone thickness in the apical region of the horizontal mandibular third molar: A cross-sectional study in young Japanese

“…Mandibular third molars are sometimes associated with the following conditions: dental caries, pericoronitis, root resorption, periodontitis, infections, cysts, tumors, and mandibular fractures [ 8 ].Therefore, without adequate dental maintenance, it is difficult to protect the mandibular third molar fully from those conditions [ 9 ]. Tai et al reported that dental lesions were observed in approximately 7% and periodontal lesions were observed in approximately 40% of cases of impacted third molars; furthermore, dental and periodontal lesions in adjacent mandibular second molars were sometimes observed [ 10 ].…”

Effects of modified triangular flap for third molar extraction on distal periodontal health of second molar: A randomized controlled study

“…Among these, the effect of no erupted IMTM extraction on the periodontal tissue of the adjacent second molars has become a controversial clinical issue [ 2 ]. The relevant literature indicates that multiple factors, including preoperative periodontal condition, patient age, type of IMTM impaction, intraoperative flap design, tooth extraction instruments used, suture type and other variables affect the distal periodontal tissue of adjacent second molars after IMTM extraction [ [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] ], and suggests that intraoperative flap design plays a major role. Flap designs, as a basic operation during surgery, not only determine the surgical area and access but are also closely related to periodontal tissue healing [ 34 ].…”

Third molars impaction pattern with associated pathologies in panoramic radiographs of West Java, Indonesian population

“…Impacted third molar are commonly associated with several pathologic conditions. When a tooth starts to erupt, a narrow gap called peri-coronary gap is formed between the tooth crown and the oral mucosa [7]. Impacted third molar often has abnormal position and angulation, which leads to a greater gap between the third molar and adjacent second molar.…”