Abstract: PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of no crown-amputation technique versus the traditional tooth-division technique in the extraction of specific high-positioned mesioangular impacted mandibular third molars. METHODS: A total of 92 patients with high-positioned mesioangular impacted mandibular third molars admitted to Suzhou Stomatological Hospital from July 2023 to July 2024 were selected and randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group, with 46 cases in each group. The control group underwent extraction using the traditional tooth-division technique, while the experimental group was treated with no crown-amputation technique. The following parameters were compared between the two groups: operation time, preoperative anxiety level, intraoperative complications (including root fracture, gingival laceration, and lingual plate fracture), postoperative complications (including pain, swelling, trismus, bleeding, dry socket, and temporomandibular joint pain), and the status of the adjacent tooth. RESULTS: The operation time in the experimental group was significantly shorter than that in the control group, and the preoperative anxiety level was also significantly lower (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the incidences of root fracture, gingival laceration and lingual cortical plate fracture between the two groups (P>0.05). The pain scores and the degree of trismus in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group at 1 and 3 days postoperatively (P<0.05), while no significant difference was found between the two groups at 7 days postoperatively (P>0.05). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in the degree of postoperative swelling, nor in the incidences of adjacent tooth mobility, bleeding and dry socket (P>0.05). The incidence of temporomandibular joint pain in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05), whereas the incidence of masticatory weakness of adjacent teeth postoperatively was significantly higher (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For specific types of mesioangular high-position mandibular impacted third molars, extraction via the crown-non-separation method has the advantages of shorter operation time, milder preoperative anxiety, less early postoperative pain and trismus, and a lower incidence of temporomandibular joint pain.

Key words: No crown-amputation technique, Tooth-division technique, Impacted tooth extraction, Mesioangular high-positioned mandibular third molar, Complications