Assessment of difficulty in third molar surgery--a systematic review.

PURPOSE: The aim of this review was to identify the most important variables that determine surgical difficulty of impacted third molar extractions by their consistent showing in previous studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic library search for current evidence in the world literature was conducted, and relevant articles were selected, scrutinized, and the findings were compared. RESULTS: Seven articles were most relevant, and the results of the comparison of the selected articles showed that demographic variable, age; operative variables: surgeon procedure type and number of teeth extracted; and ratiographic variable, depth angulation; and root morphology, are the most consistent determinants of difficulty. CONCLUSION: Current evidence is in support of 3 categoreis of variables strongly associated with surgical diffulty of impacted third molars. The most important variables in each of these categories have been identified.