2Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Aydın, Turkey DOI : 10.31086/tjgeri.2020.191 Introduction: The primary aim of our study was to identify the problems caused by impacted teeth and to discuss treatment alternatives in older adults. The secondary aim of the study was to investigate the presence, frequency, and position of impacted teeth in older adults and to investigate the reasons for impaction.
Materials and Methods: The study included 79,733 patients who were admitted to the Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Dentistry since December 2013. From these patients, 8,670 panoramic radiographs of patients aged 60 years and older were evaluated retrospectively.
Results: The most common impacted teeth were the third molar (453, 77.3%), canine (109, 18.6%), and premolar (13, 2.2%). There was a statistically significant difference between the presence of an impacted tooth and the outcome of treatment (p<0.001). Of the (216, 51.8%) patients for whom surgical tooth extraction was prescribed, (159, 38.1%) underwent extraction, while (57, 13.7%) patients refused treatment.
Conclusions: Routine follow-up should be recommended for asymptomatic teeth that do not cause significant problems in the adjacent teeth and surrounding tissues instead of prophylactic extraction in all age groups, especially in older adults.
Keywords : Tooth, Impacted; older adults; Radiography, Panoramic