ABSTRACT
Objectives@#Despite treatment, the pre-traumatic facial appearance of patients with maxillofacial fractures might not be able to be restored, and this difference can affect the person’s quality of life (QoL). This study was designed to evaluate changes in QoL of people with maxillofacial fractures. @*Materials and Methods@#The study population was comprised of participants with maxillofacial fracture and age- and sex-matched healthy controls without history of such fracture. QoL was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire, which was administered to the patients before treatment (Time 1), at 6 weeks post-treatment (Time 2), and at 12 weeks postoperatively (Time 3). The values were compared with those of healthy controls. The QoL was compared between closed reduction group and open reduction and internal fixation group. @*Results@#The QoL scores of people with maxillofacial fracture before treatment were significantly lower (P=0.001) than those of healthy controls in all domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. The QoL scores in the psychological and social domains of patients with maxillofacial fracture at Time 3 were still lower than those of healthy controls (P=0.001). @*Conclusion@#The QoL of patients with maxillofacial fracture was significantly reduced before treatment in all domains and remained reduced in both psychological and social domains weeks after treatment. Therefore, clinicians must be aware of and manage the residual psychosocial issues that can accompany the post-treatment period of maxillofacial injury.
ABSTRACT
Removal of third molars is a common procedure performed in oral surgery. Although there are well-defined indications for removal of impacted third molars, removal of asymptomatic third molars is still universally practiced. This article reviews the body of knowledge regarding for and against the prophylactic surgical extraction of impacted third molars in contemporary oral surgical practice, and also discusses relevant issues related to the topic. Although, impacted third molars have been reported to be associated with diseases or lesions, the incidence of such occurrence was found to be apparently low. The weight of evidence in support of increased risk of mandibular angle fracture in the presence of unerupted or impacted lower third molar is overwhelming however, most recent evidence has shown that presence of impacted lower third molar helps to prevent condylar fracture. Therefore, prophylactic surgical extraction of impacted third molars in the absence of a well-defined indication does not seem a good clinical practice