ABSTRACT Background Dental implants have become a widely accepted solution for replacing missing teeth. Despite their high success rates, postoperative discomfort such as pain, swelling and foreign body sensation is commonly experienced by patients. However, the prediction of such outcomes based on patient characteristics remains underexplored. Objective Develop and validate risk models for patient‐reported postoperative symptoms after dental implant surgery. Methods A total of 506 patients who underwent dental implant surgery between January 2024 and December 2024 were included. Postoperative symptoms were assessed using Numerical Rating Scales (NRS) ranging from 0 to 10. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression models were developed to predict the severity of swelling, pain and foreign body sensation based on clinical and demographic factors. Results Among 506 patients, swelling occurred in 65.6% (47.0% mild; 18.6% moderate–severe), pain in 55.6% (51.4% mild; 4.2% moderate–severe) and foreign‐body sensation in 63.1% (53.0% mild; 10.1% moderate–severe). Increased swelling was independently associated with female sex, hypertension, multiple surgical sites, membrane use and 4.8‐mm diameter implants. Pain was associated with multiple sites and bone substitute use. Foreign‐body sensation decreased with age and increased with multiple sites. Conclusions Postoperative discomfort is common after dental implant surgery, with significant variability in severity. Identifying key predictors of symptoms can help tailor preoperative counselling and postoperative interventions to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Ma et al. (Fri,) studied this question.