Demographic Factors as Prognostics of Patients’ Morbidity Following Wisdom Tooth Surgery

Abstract

Background: Surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars is a common procedure in oral and maxillofacial surgical practice with undesirable consequences such as pain and swelling that have a major concern for most patients. This study aimed to investigate the impact of age and gender on postoperative intensity of pain and swelling experienced by patients following mandibular third molar surgery (M3MS). Material and Methods: The study involved 46 patients underwent surgical extraction of mandibular third molar under local anesthesia. The visual analogue scale measured pain and swelling for seven consecutive days after surgery. Results: After M3MS, patients experienced the most pain severity in the day of surgery, while facial swelling reaching a maximum in the first postoperative day. It was found that the influence of age and gender on the intensity of pain and degree of swelling was insignificant. Conclusion: Pain and swelling after M3MS peaked on the day of surgery and the day after respectively with mild to moderate intensity, it subsided gradually to minimal levels on day 7. Short-term outcomes of M3MS with respect to degrees of pain and swelling were found to be similar, and it seems to be independent of both’ age and gender.