Background: Dry socket is one of the most common complications occurring after the extraction of a permanent tooth, but in spite of its high incidence there is not an established treatment for this condition.
Objectives: Analyze the efficacy of different methods used in the management of dry socket regarding results of pain's relief and alveolar mucosa healing compared to conventional surgical treatment of curettage and saline irrigation.
Material and methods: A Cochrane and PubMed-MEDLINE database search was conducted with the search terms "dry socket", "post-extraction complications", "alvogyl", "alveolar osteitis" and "fibrynolitic alveolitis", individually and next, using the Boolean operator "AND". The inclusion criteria were: clinical studies including at least 10 patients, articles published from 2004 to 2014 written in English. The exclusion criteria were case reports and nonhuman studies.
Results: 11 publications were selected from a total of 627. Three of the 11 were excluded after reading the full text. The final review included 8 articles: 3 prospective studies, 2 retrospective studies and 3 clinical trials. They were stratified according to their level of scientific evidence using the SORT criteria (Strenght of Recommendation Taxonomy).
Conclusions: All treatments included in the review have the aim to relief patient's pain and promote alveolar mucosa healing in dry socket. Given the heterogeneity of interventions and the type of measurement scale, the results are difficult to compare. Curettage and irrigation should be carried out in dry socket, as well as another therapy such as LLLT, zinc oxide eugenol or plasma rich in growth factors, which are the ones that show better results in pain remission and alveolar mucosa healing. Assessment alveolar bone esposure must be a factor to consider in future research. Taking into account the scientific quality of the articles evaluated, a level B recommendation is given for therapeutic interventions proposed for the treatment of dry socket.