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.