This review of effectiveness of corticosteroids in the post-operative control of pain, swelling and trismus after third molar surgery included 17 RCTs suggesting that corticosteroid use had beneficial effects on pain swelling and trismus.
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16 observational studies were included in this review of the association between the presence of a lower third molar and the occurrence of a mandibular angle fracture in adults. The findings suggest that the odds of fracture are 3.16 (95%CI; 2.2- 4.54) higher in the presence of third molars
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6 studies were identified for this review of platelet-rich fibrin to improve outcomes after third molar extraction. The studies were small with contradictory findings so further high quality studies are needed.
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This review of the effect of presences of third molars on mandibular fractures includes 35 observational studies. The findings suggest that the presence of third molars increases the change of mandibular angle fractures.
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This review of the effect of orthodontic extractions on the angulation of third molars included only 14 retrospective studies. This provides very low quality evidence of any effect
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8 small RCTs were identified for this review of the effect of flap design on periodontal outcomes following third molar removal. The available evidence did not favour any particular flap design.
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This update of an earlier Cochrane review comparing retention or extraction of of asymptomatic disease-free impacted third molars only identified 2 studies of low to very low quality evidence providing insufficient evidence to inform practice.
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This review of antibiotic prophylaxis for the removal of third molars included 22 RCTs and suggest that antibiotic use lowered the infection risk by 60%. The number pf patients needed to treat to prevent one infection was 14 (95%CI;11-19).
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10 RCTs were included in this review of preoperative antibiotics for removal of third molars. The use of antibiotics significantly reduced the odds of surgical site infection or alveolar osteitis (OR = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.47; P≤.00001)
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The worldwide prevalence of third molar impaction estimated from this review including 49 studies involving 83,484 individuals was 24.4% (95% CI;18.97% to 30.80%).
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