Incidence of alveolar osteitis in two Johannesburg hospitals, South Africa
Date
2016
Authors
Egauvoen, Idemudia
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Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the study is to determine the incidence of Alveolar Osteitis (AO) in two Johannesburg Hospitals, South Africa. The objective was to determine the prevalence of known risk factors in this study population. It was hoped that this study will help to reduce or eliminate the development of AO.
Methods and Materials: This was a prospective study conducted over a 6 months period from April 2015 to September 2015 at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH) and Wits Oral Health Centre (WOHC). The data was collected from hospital records of the patients and structured questionnaires. The information on the questionnaires included; age, sex, race, past medical history, past dental history, social history, the amount of local anaesthesia used, the extraction site, the type of extraction (intra- alveolar or trans-alveolar), the usage or non-usage of irrigation during the procedure, method of sterilization of surgical instruments, level of experience of the operators, pre-and post-operative instruction(s), and any record of post-operative prescription given.
Results: In this study 2,970 dental extractions were performed in 2,218 patients. The incidence of AO was 102/ (102+2116) = 4.6% (at 95% confidence interval: 3.8-5.6%). The minimum age was 19 years, maximum age was 80 years and the mean age was 37.7. There was a slight female preponderance (6.1%) than in males (3.1%). The ratio of females to males in the AO patients was 1: 0.83. The mandibular 3rd molar extraction had 15.7% prevalence of AO, was the most common site to be affected. The prevalence of AO in trans-alveolar extractions was 16.0% while in intra-alveolar extractions was 4.0%. Single extractions had 5.3% prevalence of AO, while multiple extractions had 2.7 %. Poor oral hygiene was found in 58.9% of the AO patients. Pain
was the most common presenting symptoms in the AO patients (99.0%). Underlying medical condition was found in 30.6% of the AO patients while 39.2% smoked and 49.0% consumed alcohol in the AO patients.
Conclusion: This study found a statistically significant association between AO and the following variables: gender (more for female), oral hygiene status, single extractions, the amount of local anaesthetic administered, the use of irrigation during extraction, third molar surgeries (surgical trauma), and the level of operator experience.
Description
A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry in the branch of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery.
Johannesburg,
September 2016