Table 2.

Type and frequency of complications following extraction of third molars

Complication	Frequency	Percentage by patient (n = 337)	Percentage by tooth (n = 1,116)
Intraoperative complications
Root fracture	12	3.6	1.1
Bleeding	8	2.4	0.7
Tuberosity fracture	6	1.2	1.2*
Soft tissue injury	6	1.1	0.5
Damage adjacent tooth	2	0.6	0.2
Postoperative complications
Swelling/pain/trismus	7	2.1	0.6
Dry socket	6	1.8	0.5
LN injury	35	10.4	5.6†
IAN injury	10	3.0	1.6†

LN = lingual nerve; IAN = inferior alveolar nerve.

^*n = 491 (number of maxillary third molars);

^†n = 625 (number of mandibular third molars).