Incidence of Dry Socket in Relation to Psychological Stress: A Retrospective Study

This study concerns with the incidence of dry sockets among a sample of patients attending different dental clinics after tooth extraction for three consecutive years in relation to their age, sex, tooth location and to patients perceived stress.Dry socket patients records were investigated for age, sex and tooth location. And a control group was chosen of exactly the same age and sex distribution as that of the patients but free from any symptoms . A questionnaire sheet with a list of possible life events for the last twelve months before the extractions were distributed among both, then the results was subjected to statistical analysis.Out of 956 patients, 58 (6%) developed dry sockets, (36%) of them were located on wisdom teeth with the lower ones comprising (25.86%). There were significant difference in mean perceived psychological stress between the patients (477.07 ± 7.38 L.C.U) and those in control group (240.44 ± 7.12 L.C.U.) regarding different ages and sexes.There were higher incidence of dry sockets in this study than most other studies around the world and female /male ratio was nearly equal. They occurred mostly on lower and posterior more than upper and anterior teeth wisdom teeth were most, highly affected, and there were a relationship between psychological stress and dry socket.