Yet despite its prevalence in adult patients, there has been remarkably little focus on its occurrence in younger populations.
In their seminal study, Donnell et al. investigate whether children and adolescents are truly spared this complication, or whether the paucity of evidence merely reflects under-reporting.
Over a one-month period at the paediatric exodontia service of the Newcastle Dental Hospital, 150 patients aged 5–16 years undergoing dental extractions under general anaesthesia were followed by telephone one week post-operatively.
The authors report a 2.8 % incidence of AO in this cohort — a figure surprisingly comparable to adult rates in non‐surgical extractions. In this subset, all four affected patients were female, aged 9–10 years, and had undergone removal of lower first permanent molars.
Mandibular sockets were significantly associated with AO development (p = 0.026).
Beyond quantifying incidence, the study further explores risk factors, timing of symptom onset (2–3 days after extraction, lasting ~2 days), and suggests that the long‐held belief of children being largely immune to dry socket may need re-evaluation.
For clinicians specialising in paediatric dentistry and oral surgery, these findings carry important implications: adopting the least traumatic extraction techniques, especially in younger female patients or mandibular molar removals, may mitigate risk.
In sum, this article represents a critical step toward closing a knowledge gap in paediatric postoperative care.
👉 I invite dentists, oral surgeons and pedodontists worldwide to Read the full article in PDF and reflect on how these results can inform their clinical protocols for children and adolescents undergoing exodontia.
To dive into the full study—including methodology, statistical analysis and proposed conceptual frameworks for AO in paediatrics—please access the complete article in PDF.
