jaw fracture

Iatrogenic Fracture of the Mandibular Angle During Wisdom Tooth Surgery

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An interesting article titled “Iatrogenic Fracture of the Mandibular Angle During Excision of an Impacted Third Molar” appears in Cureus in August 04, 2022, written by Agrawal P, Jadhav A, Bhola N D (vol. 14, no. 8, pp. e27672). The article discusses a case of a 30 year old woman who had atrogenic mandibular angle fracture after having an impacted wisdom tooth removed. In the article, the authors mention of a 30 year old woman visited their outpatient department complaining of pain and swelling over the lower right side of her face with an inability to open her mouth and chew for the last four days. Prior to this, she had her lower right impacted wisdom tooth removed under local anesthesia. On exam, the woman was found to have an asymmetrical face due to swelling over the lower right region … Read more

Does Keeping Wisdom Teeth Lead to More Lower Jaw Fractures?

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An interesting article titled “Does an Association Exist Between the Presence of Lower Third Molar and Mandibular Angle Fractures?: A Meta-Analysis” written by Ruela et al. appears in the 2018 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 76, pp. 34-45). The article seeks to explore if having wisdom teeth can lead to more lower jaw fractures and specifically mandibular angle fractures. In the article the authors argue how in the past some have argued for the prophylactic (preventative) removal of wisdom teeth to prevent mandibular angle fractures. This is because the mandibular angle occupies an area that should be filled with bone and by having teeth in this area it is susceptible to be 2 to 3 times or likely to fracture. To investigate this the authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to look at studies … Read more