ANALYSIS OF MESIOANGULAR MANDIBULAR THIRD MOLAR IMPACTION CLASSIFICATION AND PATIENT COMPLAINTS AT AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY DENTAL HOSPITAL

Background: Mandibular third molars are frequently impacted because eruption is constrained by limited posterior mandibular space. The Pell and Gregory classification describes the relationship of an impacted third molar to the mandibular ramus and the occlusal plane, but the distribution of patient complaints across mesioangular classifications remains insufficiently described. 
Objective: To analyze the distribution of complaints according to Pell and Gregory classification among patients aged 17–25 years with mesioangular impacted mandibular third molars at Airlangga University Dental Hospital. 
Methods: This retrospective descriptive-analytic study used secondary medical-record data from January 2023 to November 2025. Total sampling was applied to records meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were summarized descriptively, and the association between Pell and Gregory IIA and IIB classifications and complaint status was tested using the Chi-square test at a significance level of 0.05. 
Results: A total of 484 records were included. Pell and Gregory IIA was the most frequent classification (303/484; 62.60%), followed by IIB (147/484; 30.37%). In IIA, pain was recorded in 190 patients (59.38%), whereas 88 (27.50%) had no recorded complaint. In IIB, 54 patients (36.00%) reported pain and 84 (56.00%) had no recorded complaint. Among the IIA and IIB subgroup (n=450), complaints were present in 214 IIA patients and 63 IIB patients. The Chi-square test showed a significant association between classification and complaint status (p<0.001), with an odds ratio of 0.312 for absence of complaints in IIB relative to IIA. 
Conclusion: Complaint distribution differed across mesioangular impaction classifications. Pell and Gregory IIA was the predominant classification and was more frequently associated with complaints than IIB.