FREQUENCY OF PARESTHESIA DUE TO INFERIOR ALVEOLAR NERVE DAMAGE AFTER EXTRACTION OF MANDIBULAR THIRD MOLAR AMONG PATIENTS SHOWING DARKENING OF ROOT IN ORTHOPANTOMOGRAM

Background: Paresthesia is an abnormal dermal sensation with no apparent physical cause. One of the everyday practices in any oral surgery setup is the extraction of the impacted mandibular third molars surgically. Precise measurement of the bone present for support of the implant coronal to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) canal is the pertinent way to prevent IAN injuries. Objective: To assess the frequency of paresthesia due to IAN damage after mandibular third molar’s surgical extraction in patients with darkening of root on orthopantomogram. Material & Methods: It was a descriptive case series study which took place in the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore in a time frame of 6 months i.e. from December 2020 till May 2021. After meeting the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 200 patients were made part of the study program. Informed consent and demographic information was recorded. Surgical procedure of all these patients was done. Assessment was done post-operatively first after one week when patient came for suture removal by inquiring about the subjective perception of abnormal feeling or sensation on lower lip and chin area. Patients were then reappointed for a follow-up visit after 1 month as well. Results: Patients’ mean age was 28.05±3.94 years. There were 104 (52%) males and 96 (48%) females in the study population. There were 38 (19%) patients of distoangular impaction, 39 (19.5%) had horizontal impaction, 55 (27.5%) had mesioangular impaction while 68 (34%) had vertical impaction. The IAN paresthesia after 1st month of surgery was found in 13 (6.5%) patients. Conclusion: According to this study, the frequency of paresthesia after 1st month of surgery was 6.5% due to IAN injury after mandibular third molar surgery in patients with darkening of root as observed on orthopantomogram. Keywords: Inferior Alveolar Nerve, Orthopantomogram, Paresthesia, Third Molar Surgery.