Serum albumin is a potential predictor of delayed healing after minor dental surgery among older patients aged over 65 years: A retrospective study

Abstract

With the increasing number of older people worldwide, dentists have more opportunities to manage patients whose oral health requires attention. Such patients often need to undergo minor dental surgery to restore their oral function; however, they usually experience post‐treatment complications that directly reduce their quality of life. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the frequency of complications occurring after minor dental surgery and identify predictors of delayed healing (one of the most frequent complications) among patients aged over 65 years.Patients who visited the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Medicine at Hokkaido University Hospital from 2015 to 2022 were selected and classified into the non‐delayed (n = 87) and delayed (n = 19) healing groups. The clinical backgrounds of these patients were compared between the two groups.Among 106 patients aged over 65 years, delayed healing (17.9%) was the most frequent complication after minor dental surgery. Serum albumin levels (odds ratio: 10.0; 95% confidence interval: 2.15–46.6) significantly differed between the delayed and non‐delayed healing groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that a serum albumin level of <3.5 g/dl (odds ratio: 10.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.83–56.2) was significantly associated with delayed healing.This study proposed that serum albumin level is a potential predictor of delayed healing in patients aged over 65 years who undergo minor dental surgery. In clinical practice, dentists are required to evaluate and improve nutritional status of older patients even before minor dental surgery.