THE SURGERY DATED BACK UP TO 20 YEARS
Doty and co-author Dane Kim analysed data from 1,255 patients who had undergone chemosensory testing over a period of 20 years. Of these, 891 patients had had their wisdom teeth extracted, while 364 had not.
For the taste test, participants had to sip five different concentrated solutions of sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid and caffeine and then indicate whether the sample tasted sweet, salty, sour or bitter.
WOMEN TASTED BETTER THAN MEN
The extraction group performed better than the control group on each of the four taste qualities, and in every case women outperformed men. The study suggests for the first time that people whose wisdom teeth were removed some time ago experience an improvement in their sense of taste (typically by three to ten percent). The researchers offer two possible explanations: first, wisdom tooth extraction could damage the connection between the nerves at the taste buds in the front and back of the mouth, thereby increasing sensitivity throughout the mouth. Second, hypersensitivity following a peripheral nerve injury caused by a surgical procedure such as an extraction is well documented in other contexts.
A POSITIVE, IF SUBTLE, LONG-TERM EFFECT
Evidence from animal studies suggests that repeated light touches, such as those that occur during chewing, gradually intensify the neural responses of irritated tissue, which can lead to progressive long-term tactile hypersensitivity. However, whether this also applies to taste is not known.
“In any case, the study strongly suggests that removal of the third molar has a positive, if subtle, long-term effect on the function of the lingual taste pathways in some people,” said Kim.
Dane Kim, Richard L Doty, Positive Long-Term Effects of Third Molar Extraction on Taste Function, Chemical Senses, Volume 46, 2021, bjab032, https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjab032
