Postoperative infection associated with mandibular angle fracture treatment in the presence of teeth on the fracture line: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The aim of this review was to answer the question: Which is the best procedure to follow when there is tooth involvement in the line of mandibular angle fracture, taking into consideration the occurrence of postoperative infection? A systematic literature review using the PubMed (MEDLINE), Virtual Health Library (VHL), Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases was done, and a total of 1007 articles were found. Among these, 13 articles were included in the final review after the papers were read. A series of 1542 mandibular angle fractures with the presence of teeth in the fracture line was obtained. Of 788 cases where the tooth was removed, a postoperative infection occurred in 84 cases; of 754 cases where the tooth was retained, postoperative infection also occurred in 84 cases. Through this review it was observed that there was no significant statistical difference between removing or retaining the tooth in the line of fracture and the occurrence of postoperative infection.