Evaluation of the Relationship Between Postoperative Pain and Operating Time in Mandibular Impacted Third Molar Surgery

AbstractObjective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the position of mandibular impacted third molars, surgical duration, and postoperative pain level.Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted using the clinical records of 150 patients who underwent mandibular impacted third molar surgery between 2022 and 2023. All teeth were fully bone-impacted. Preoperative panoramic radiographs were assessed according to the Pell and Gregory classification and categorized as vertical, mesioangular, horizontal, or distoangular. The surgical duration was recorded as the time elapsed from the initial incision to the placement of the final suture (minutes). Postoperative pain on the third day was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS, 0–10). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were performed, with a significance level set at p < 0.05.Results: The mean age of the participants was 23.67 ± 5.47 years, and 70.7% were female. The mean surgical duration was 15.94 ± 6.63 minutes, and the mean VAS score was 2.84 ± 1.96. Vertical impactions demonstrated the lowest surgical duration and VAS scores, whereas distoangular and horizontal impactions showed the highest values. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between surgical duration and postoperative pain scores on day three (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The position of impacted mandibular third molars is a determining factor influencing surgical duration and early postoperative pain. Distoangular and horizontal impactions are associated with increased surgical complexity, longer operative time, and higher postoperative pain levels. Considering the impaction type during preoperative planning may contribute to predicting postoperative morbidity and improving patient management.