Influence of oral contraceptive/low-dose estrogen progestin discontinuation on the incidence of alveolar osteitis after third molar extraction: a retrospective study at a single center

Oral contraceptive (OC)/low-dose estrogen progestin (LEP) affects both the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems and may cause alveolar osteitis (AO). However, whether OC/LEP discontinuation affects the incidence of AO has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether preoperative OC/LEP discontinuation influences the incidence of AO after wisdom tooth extraction in outpatients. A total of 130 women aged 18–47 years (median, 27 years) participated, and the total numbers of procedure days and teeth were 205 and 274, respectively. We compared the incidence of AOs between patients who discontinued OC/LEP before wisdom tooth extraction and those who did not. A total of 4/181 teeth (2.21%) in the discontinuation group and 7/93 (7.53%) in the continuation group exhibited AO, and Fisher’s exact test revealed a significant difference between the two groups (p=0.049). No serious adverse events, such as thrombosis, were observed. In conclusion, OC/LEP discontinuation was associated with a lower observed incidence of AO after third molar extraction.