DEVELOPING A MEASURE OF PATIENT PERCEPTIONS OF SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES OF3RD MOLAR SURGERY

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop an instrument to meas ure patients' perceptions of their experiences after the removal of th ird molar teeth.Methods: Nineteen patients (ages 18 to 25 years) who u nderwent surgical removal of four third molars after local treatment f or mild symptoms of pericoronitis completed a newly developed 14-item instrument each evening for the 14-day period after surgery, A focus g roup was used to further examine the experiences of a subset of subjec ts. Results: On the first day postsurgery, patients reported a median level of 81 on the 0 to 100 scale of ''limitation of daily activity be cause of pain'' (100=total interference), This dropped to 21 by day 5, and all but two patients returned completely to normal activities by day 8, During the first 3 days, the median level of ''average pain'' r anged from 51 to 33 (100=pain as bad as could be), and all but two pat ients were pain-free by day 10, Bad taste/breath persisted for between 2 to 4 days; food impaction was experienced by nearly all patients fr om days 3 through 14, Swelling was encountered by 10 of the patients f or the first 2 days and was reported by only one patient after day 5, Conclusions: This study demonstrated that patients' perceptions of the ir experiences could be collected using a self-administered instrument , and it confirmed the changes in postsurgical morbidity that occur in healthy, young adults, This instrument and these data will be valuabl e to those striving to make informed decisions regarding third molar s urgery.