Evaluation of Postoperative Symptom Findings of the Patients According to the Positions of the Mandibular Third Molars: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effects of position and difficulty index scores of impacted third molars on postoperative symptoms severity and oral health. Material and Methods: This study designed as prospective cohort and conducted in Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry between February-May 2024. The sample group consisted of patients who applied to the university's maxillofacial surgery department for mandibular third molar extraction. Data of the population and teeth collected in operation day with The Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) scores. And seven days after, post-operative scores of the OHIP-14 and The Post-operative Symptom Severity (PoSSe) Scale scores were recorded. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the study variables and The Wilcoxon, The MannWhitney U tests were done. In the findings, a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study included a total of 57 patients. The median pre-operative OHIP-14 score was 12.00, postoperative was 19.00. An increase in scores indicates a deterioration in oral health-related quality of life. Gender and age differences in OHIP14 scores showed no significant difference (p>0.999, p=0.677). No significant relationship was found between OHIP-14 score differences and the Pederson index (p=0.681). The PoSSe Scale was only found to be a significant predictor (p=0.003), indicating a positive relationship with OHIP-14 difference. Conclusion: The impaction position and difficulty index of the third molar tooth alone are insufficient to comment on the patients' post-operative subjective findings.