FREQUENCY OF DRY SOCKET POST-IMPACTED MANDIBULAR THIRD MOLAR EXTRACTION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH SURGICAL DIFFICULTY

Objectives: To determine the frequency of dry socket following impacted mandibular third molar extraction and its relationship with surgical complexity.Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study enrolled 125 patients from the oral and maxillofacial surgery department of De. Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore from November 2022 to April 2023. Patients aged 18 years and above, who had undergone surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars with complete clinical records. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of dry socket, with secondary outcome measures including Paderson Difficulty Index score. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS, version 27.0.Results: In this study, 125 participants were enrolled, with males comprising 51.2% (n=64) and females 48.8% (n=61). The age range was 15 to 59 years, with a mean age of 33.5±10.44 years. Left-sided mandibular third molar impaction was noted in 52.8% (n=66) of cases, while right-sided impaction was seen in 47.2% (n=59). Based on Pederson’s diffi culty index, the majority fell into the moderately difficult category (54.4%, n=68), followed by less difficult (29.6%, n=37) and very difficult (16.0%, n=20) cases. The prevalence of dry socket post-extraction was 21.6%.Conclusion: Our study reveals a notable frequency of dry socket following impacted mandibular third molar extraction, with 21.6% of cases experiencing this complication with a significant association observed between the occurrence of dry socket and the surgical difficulty assessed by Pederson's difficulty index.