Objectives: To investigate the effect of persistent neurosensory disturbance of the lingual nerve (LN) or inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) on general health and oral health- related quality of life (QoL).
Methods: The study design was a case-control study. Patients with persistent neurosensory deficit of LN or IAN after lower third molar surgery (for 12 months or more) were the study group. The control group was an age and gender matched sample of patients who had dental extractions or lower third molar surgeries without trigeminal neurosensory deficit. The outcome variables were the general health and oral health-related QoL. General health-related QoL was assessed using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and oral health-related QoL using the 14-item Short Form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Differences in SF-36 scores and OHIP-14 scores between the groups were compared.
Results: Forty-eight subjects (24 cases and 24 controls) were recruited. When compared to the control group, patients with neurosensory deficits had poorer Mental-Health Component Scores (MCS) (p = 0.005), General Health (p = 0.023), Vitality (p = 0.048), Social Functioning (p = 0.003), Role-emotion (p = 0.008) and Mental Health (p = 0.022). The OHIP-14 scores were also significantly worse in this patients with neurosensory deficits compared with the control group (p = 0.002). When compared within the study group, older patient with neurosensory deficit was found to correlate with worse Physical Health Component Scores (PCS) (p = 0.02) and OHIP-14 scores (p = 0.02), while more severe visualized analog scaling rating of numbness was correlated with a worse PCS (p = 0.034).
Conclusions: Patients with persistent LN or IAN deficit after lower third molar surgery have poorer health-related QoL and poorer oral health-related QoL than those without such deficits.