The effect of cigarette smoking on the severity of pain, swelling and trismus after the surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molar

Objective: The study objective was to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on the severity of pain, swelling and trismus on male after the surgical removal of impacted lower third molar. Material and Methods: This prospective comparative study was conducted for 150 male in two groups of patients, smokers and non-smokers. Each group consisted of 75 patients; smoking patient were the ones who smoke more than twenty cigarettes per day for more than one year of continuous smoking. Postoperative pain was evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS) and the degree of swelling was evaluated through facial reference points’ variation. The presence of trismus was analyzed through measurement of the interincisal distance (IID). Result: Clinical and radiographic examinations were carried out. Data regarding the age, gender, angulations type, depth and width of impactions were evaluated and analyzed The severity of pain, swelling and trismus on the 1st, 2nd , 5th and 7thday postoperatively was estimated. In both groups the pain and trismus were reported to be in peak level during the first post-operative day while post-operative swelling reaches its peak level in the second postoperative day. Conclusion: Cigarettes smoking do not have any significant relationship with the severity of pain, swelling and trismus after surgical removal of lower third molar on male gender. Key words:Cigarettes smoking, pain, swelling, trismus, impacted lower third molars.