Clinical Study of Natural Recovery of Altered Sensation after Minor Dental Surgery

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of our study was to evaluate natural recovery of neurologic injury after minor dental surgery based on subjective neurologic evaluation. Materials and Methods: From December 2005 through July 2009, 30 patients from Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were identified as having been treated with minor dental surgery. The patients were composed of 12 men and 18 women, with a mean age of 50.6 years. The median duration of this study was 62 weeks. Results: The patients were treated by implants (17 cases), tooth extractions (6 cases), bone grafts (4 cases),inferior alveolar nerve transpositions (2 cases) and periodontal surgery (1 case) prior to the occurrence of altered sensation. Areas of altered sensation after minor surgery included the lip (36.7%), chin (30.0%) and tooth (21.7%), and at final follow-up, there was no change of ranking. Altered sensations expressed by patients included numbness (33.3%), discomfort (22.9%), relieving sense (14.6%), tingling (14.6%) and itching (14.6%). There was no change of ranking of altered sensation at the last follow-up. Patients experienced the altered sensation always (47.8%), during tactile stimulation (26.1%), when chewing food (13.0%), and talking (13.0%). Mean visual analogue scale (VAS) was 3.43±2.84 for pain and 6.64±2.72 for paresthesia. VAS of pain was decreased significantly between the first visit and the end of follow-up, and paresthesia also showed a significant difference. Conclusion: Altered sensations may occur at any time after minor dental surgery, but we observed that natural recovery of altered sensation occurred as time went on.