investigation of the impact pattern of maxillary third molars in ardabil population

Purpose: the aim of present investigation was to evaluate frequency of different angles, numbers of roots, depth of impaction in maxillary third molarsand their damages to nearby structuresby analyzing panoramic radiography. materials and methods: this study was conducted by analyzing panoramic radiography 382 (124 men & 258 women) patients who referred to baser radiography center, rad radiography center and ardabil dental school between year 2014 to 2015. results: the most frequent angle of impacted teeth in maxillary third molar in both genders was vertical (48/9%), and the most frequent depth was class c according winter classification system (46/8%), in approximately 85% of cases no space between teeth and sinus was observed and according to numbers of roots 54% of teeth had 2 roots, 22% 3 roots and 8% had only one root. the most important damage to nearby structures was angular periodontal lesions which were demonstrated in radiography (52%), making caries on second molars (100%), root resorption on second molars (6%) and in 18% no harmful lesions on molar 2 or radiographic lesions were detected. conclusions: within the limitations of this study, most of third impacted maxillary molars had enough space to maxillary sinus and most of them were vertically, thus extraction of these impacted teeth seems simple and possible.