ABSTRACT
The records of 68 adult patients, referred to a Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for extraction of one or more teeth, have been studied with regard to the complexity of the treatment and the postoperative course. In 11 patients surgical removal had to be performed, while in the remaining 57 patients treatment consisted of simple extractions. Forty-six patients of these 57 patients returned a questionnaire about postoperative problems and use of analgesics. These patients were divided into two groups, one consisting of 17 healthy patients without any medical disorder and/or use of drugs, and a second consisting of 29 medically compromised patients. The postoperative course did not differ between both groups. Four patients (1 healthy, 3 medically compromised) experienced postoperative complaints during more than 6 days. Remarkably, the number of patients who experienced pain but did not use analgesics was considerably higher in the healthy group (29%) compared with the medically compromised group (7%). On the other hand, medically compromised patients more often experienced pain in spite of the use of analgesics (52%) than healthy patients (41%). No differences in wound healing after simple tooth extractions were observed between healthy and medically compromised patients.
