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Non-healing extraction socket: a diagnostic challenge for general dental practitioners
Abdouldaim Ukwas1, Ahmed Elbego2, Mahmoud Albego2
1UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London, United Kingdom. abdouldaim.ukwas.09@ucl.ac.uk.
British Dental Journal
|December 20, 2024
Summary
A non-healing extraction socket may indicate a serious underlying condition, such as cancer or medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Dentists should be vigilant for these rare but significant cases.
Area of Science:
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
- Dental Medicine
- Oncology
Background:
- Over 18 million dental extractions are performed annually in the UK.
- Most extraction sockets heal uneventfully.
- Rarely, extraction sockets fail to heal for weeks or months.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review cases of non-healing extraction sockets.
- To identify links between non-healing sockets and systemic diseases, malignancy, or systemic therapy side effects.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest, and Google Scholar.
- Search term: 'non-healing extraction socket'.
- Results limited to human studies in English.
Main Results:
- 50 cases of non-healing extraction sockets were identified (28 female, 22 male; average age 55.2 years).
- 71 teeth were extracted in total across the cases.
- Malignancy (primary and metastatic) was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw.
Conclusions:
- Non-healing extraction sockets can be a sign of undiagnosed serious systemic disease or malignancy.
- Dental practitioners must maintain vigilance for persistent non-healing extraction sockets.
- These cases may represent an early indicator of significant underlying pathology.
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