Objectives: The understanding and adherence to postoperative care instructions are factors that influence the recuperation process after any surgical procedure. The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of patients who strictly follow the postoperative instructions after the extraction of an impacted lower third molar in relation to sociocultural level, preoperative anxiety scores and how postoperative information is provided to the patient. Study Design: Patients were randomly assigned to one of three different test groups according to how the postoperative instructions were presented: verbal, written and a group that received additional information. Before surgery, patients were required to complete the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale and personal information (age, gender and educational level) was also collected. P<0.05 was considered significant. Patients were surveyed a week after surgery regarding their adherence to postoperative instructions. Results: 84 patients (45 women and 39 men with an average of 28.23 ± 7.41 years) completed the study. There were no statistically significant differences regarding adherence of postoperative care instructions depending on the manner of instruction presentation, preoperative anxiety level and sociocultural level (p> 0.05). Quitting smoking or drinking of alcoholic/carbonated beverages were the main influential factors for the lack of adherence to postoperative care instructions during the week after surgery. Conclusions: Presentation of postoperative instructions, preoperative anxiety scores and sociocultural level do not appear to be key factors that promote the adherence to postoperative instructions. Key words:Compliance, postoperative instructions, treatment, third molar.

BackgroundSeveral publications have measured the difficulty of third molar removal, trying to establish the main risk factors, however several important preoperative and intraoperative variables are overlooked.Material and MethodsA prospective cohort study comprising a total of 130 consecutive lower third molar extractions was performed. The outcome variables used to measure the difficulty of the extraction were operation time and a 100mm visual analogue scale filled by the surgeon at the end of the surgical procedure. The predictors were divided into 4 different groups (demographic, anatomic, radiographic and operative variables). A descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis of the data was performed.ResultsPatients’ weight, the presence of bulbous roots, the need to perform crown and root sectioning of the lower third molar and Pell and Gregory 123 classification significantly influenced both outcome variables (p< 0.05).ConclusionsCertain anatomical, radiological and operative variables appear to be important factors in the assessment of surgical difficulty in the extraction of lower third molars. Key words:Third molar, surgical extraction, surgical difficulty.

Although NSMST is a condition that has a higher incidence in the male gender, no differences have been found as to their number and localization in both genders. Bilaterality seems to be a common characteristic of this disorder.

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