Oral Health-related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) Following Surgical Extraction of Impacted Mandibular Third Molars: Preliminary Observations in a Saudi Arabian Subpopulation

INTRODUCTION: OHQoL is crucial for the best preoperative assessment and development of suitable indications for mandibular third molar surgical extraction. The current study hopes to report QoL after surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study conducted in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, between January 2020 and April 2020. After consenting to partake in the study, patients’ baseline demographics, indication for seeking third molar removal and laterality of impaction were recorded. All the surgical extractions were performed by the same surgeon. Pain was assessed pre and postoperatively with the numerical pain rating scale while QoL was assessed pre and postoperatively using the validated Arabic version of the 16 item United Kingdom Oral Health Related Quality of Life measure (UK-OHQoL). RESULTS: A total of 92 patients were recruited. There are 41 (44.6%) males and 51 (55.4%) females with M:F of 1:1.2. Age range was between 18 and 48 years with a mean of (31.2 ± 6.6) years. Age group 20–29 years constitutes the highest number of patients. Subscales: eating, appearance, sleep, mood and work revealed more percentage complaints (42.9%, 23.4%, 24.7%, 28.6%, and 16.9%, respectively). Regarding mean domain and overall QoL scores, it was observed that there was gradual improvement in mean scores from the Pre-op values and the review periods with best mean QoL reported at POD 14 CONCLUSION: Improvement in overall mean QoL scores during the review periods as compared with the preoperative score was observed. Eating, appearance, sleep, mood and work subscales revealed more percentage complaints.