True and nonspecific alveolitis sicca dolorosa related to operative removal of mandibular third molars.

Alveolitis sicca dolorosa (ASD) following removal of 145 mandibular third molars from 109 healthy university students was studied. The operations were all performed under local anaesthesia by the same oral surgeon under similar conditions, using similar postoperative procedures. True ASD was considered to have occurred if a patient returned to the surgeon seeking relief of the typical symptoms of ASD before the scheduled check-up date. Non-specific ASD was considered to have occurred in a patient who recorded an increase in pain intensity on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) from the third or fourth postoperative day onwards but did not return to the surgeon. True ASD was diagnosed in 5% of cases and non-specific ASD in 15% of cases.