Does the presence of third molars during sagittal split mandibular ramus osteotomy favour complications? Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess whether the presence of inferior third molars during sagittal split mandibular ramus osteotomy increases the risk of intraoperative and postoperative complications. The PRISMA protocol was followed in this study, and the review was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42020147642). A search was conducted in the MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, Cochrane Central, and Scopus databases on November 1, 2021. Nineteen articles were included, and the variables analysed were unfavourable fractures, infection, neurosensory disturbance, removal of osteosynthesis material, and duration of surgery. Meta-analyses were performed for the variables unfavourable fractures (risk ratio (RR) 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58-1.57, P = 0.84), infection (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.48-1.18, P = 0.21), and neurosensory disturbance (RR 1.55, 95% CI 0.61-3.91, P = 0.35); no statistically significant difference in the risk of these variables was found between the groups with and without third molars. The third molars did not increase the need to remove fixation material, but increased the surgery time. The presence of the third molar during sagittal split mandibular ramus osteotomy appears not to increase the risk of intraoperative and postoperative complications. The results presented here must be interpreted with caution due to the heterogeneity presented by the observational studies included.

Keywords: Dentofacial deformities; Intraoperative complications; Orthognathic surgery; Postoperative complications; Third molar.