The Effect of Acne Medication on Wisdom Teeth Removal

In a research letter in the October 2012 issue of J AM ACAD DERMATOL titled “The effects of isotretinoin on wisdom tooth extraction,” by Jyoti Sharma, Diane M. Thiboutot, and Andrea L. Zaenglein (pp. 794-795), a discussion is made of of the medicine more commonly known as Accutane. Accutane has since be removed from use in the U.S. due to legal issues but the generic form of isotretinoin remains available. See more discussion on the Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotretinoin.

In the study, 328 patients between 12 and 27 were contacted who were on isotretinoin. 26 of these patients had wisdom teeth extraction, with all but 1 of the patients still being on isotretinoin at the time of the surgery. 3 patients suffered from a dry socket but none of the other patients had a complication after wisdom teeth removal. One of these patients was female and it should be noted that of the 8 female patients who had wisdom teeth extracted and also on isotretinoin they also were all on oral contraceptive pills which are known as a risk factor for dry socket.

The author of the study state

“While the patients in our study experienced a higher rate of alveolar osteitis (11.4%) than the average cited rates (3%-5%), an association between isotretinoin use and complications in wisdom teeth removal cannot be determined from the data gathered because of the limited sample size.”

The three patients who suffered from dry socket all recovered fully. Clearly due to the limited sample size in this study the results may not be applicable to the population.

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