Longitudinal Treatment Outcomes of Microsurgical Treatment of Neurosensory Deficit after Lower Third Molar Surgery: A Prospective Case Series.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the longitudinal subjective and objective outcomes of the microsurgical treatment of lingual nerve (LN) and inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury after third molar surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 1-year longitudinal observational study was conducted on patients who received LN or IAN repair after third molar surgery-induced nerve injury. Subjective assessments ("numbness", "hyperaesthesia", "pain", "taste disturbance", "speech" and "social life impact") and objective assessments (light touch threshold, two-point discrimination, pain threshold, and taste discrimination) were recorded. RESULTS: 12 patients (10 females) with 10 LN and 2 IAN repairs were recruited. The subjective outcomes at post-operative 12 months for LN and IAN repair were improved. "Pain" and "hyperaesthesia" were most drastically improved. Light touch threshold improved from 44.7 g to 1.2 g for LN repair and 2 g to 0.5 g for IAN repair. CONCLUSION: Microsurgical treatment of moderate to severe LN injury after lower third molar surgery offered significant subjective and objective sensory improvements. 100% FSR was achieved at post-operative 6 months.