PREVALENCE OF IMPACTED THIRD MOLAR DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AT HASANUDDIN UNIVERSITY DENTAL HOSPITAL

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has limited dental health care to emergency measures only, including pain due to impacted third molars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of impacted teeth in oral cavity between patients at the Hasanuddin University Dental Hospital during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross- sectional study was conducted. All patients aged 17 years and over who came to the Hasanuddin University Dental Hospital in 2020 and underwent a radiographic examination were included and classified as impacted and non-impacted groups. Data were analyzed and chi square test was performed to assess the relationship between impacted third molars with gender and age. The level of significance was set at p<0.05.
Results and Discussions: A total of 2392 subjects were included, among whom 1438 (60.1%) were females. The number of subjects with impacted third molar was 728 (30.4%) and the largest age group was 21-30 years old, accounted for 851 (35.6%) of the subjects. There was no significant difference between third molar impaction and gender (p>0.05), but there was a significant difference between third molar impaction and age (p<0.05). The incidence of impaction decreases with age.
Conclusion: The prevalence of third molar impaction requiring treatment during the Covid-19 pandemic at RSGM Unhas in 2020 was 30.4%, which was dominated by female patients aged 21-30 years.