Prevalence of Dry Socket Following Tooth Extraction and Associated Factors

Dry socket is a limiting complication with unknown etiology and acute inflammation of the alveolar bone in the extracted tooth socket that occurs one to three days after tooth extraction with severe pain due to complete or incomplete destruction of the blood clot. The present study aimed at evaluating the prevalence of dry socket following tooth extraction and its related factors.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 1199 patients aged 18-60 years in patients attending dental clinics in Sari, Iran, 2018. Patients’ satisfaction were obtained and their demographic and dental information were recorded. Within 48-72 hours after tooth extraction, telephone follow-up was done by 4th and 5th year dental students and senior dentists. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS V24.

In this study, the prevalence of dry socket was 1.1%. The most common reason for tooth extraction was extensive tooth decay and third molar was the most frequent tooth extracted (45.4%). According to the analyses, those who did not brush their teeth at all were more likely to experience dry socket.

In this study, flap technique with bone extraction and simple method resulted in highest and lowest prevalence of dry socket, respectively.