Mandibular fracture is a common occurrence in maxillofacial trauma, with the angle of the mandible being one of the frequently affected sites. The prevalence of angle fractures has been reported in the literature to range between 23% and 42% (Sipahi Calis et al., 2017). Treatment of such fractures can be challenging due to the presence of the third molar or wisdom tooth in the path of the fracture line. The extraction or preservation of such teeth has been debated among surgeons for several years (Zanakis et al., 2015).

The extraction of wisdom teeth in the line of angle fractures has been traditionally advocated, since fractures in tooth-bearing areas are potentially exposed to oral bacteria via periodontal ligament communication, leading to infection and impairment of bone healing (Hammond et al., 2015). Furthermore, the retention of wisdom teeth could also make the approximation of fracture fragments difficult (Balaji and Balaji, 2015). Nevertheless, there have been no prospective randomized control trials within the literature investigating the management of wisdom teeth within the fracture line, resulting in the ongoing debates among surgeons (Giovacchini et al., 2018; McNamara et al., 2016). The aim of our study was therefore to retrospectively analyze postoperative wisdom tooth extraction rates in patients with a fracture through the angle of the mandible, who underwent plate fixation and retention of the wisdom tooth.