Clinical investigation of gustatory and neurosensory alterations following mandibular third molar surgery: an observational prospective study

Objective This study aimed to prospectively observe gustatory and neurosensory alterations following surgical removal of mandibular third molars. Material and methods A prospective clinical study was conducted with patients who required mandibular third molar extraction, recruited from the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Federal University of Ceará (Brazil). Age, sex, and radiographic signs were recorded. The outcome variables were the presence or absence of gustatory and neurosensory alterations. The patients were observed preoperatively and at 7, 30, 90, and 180 days postoperatively by using gustatory and neurosensory tests. Results The response to sweet ( p = 0.509) and sour ( p = 0.078) stimulus did not alter significantly over time. The salty threshold significantly increased from the preoperative to 7- and 30-day postoperative periods, returning to baseline values at 90 days postoperatively ( p = 0.038). The bitter threshold increased significantly from the preoperative to 7-day postoperative period, returning to baseline values at 30 days after surgery ( p