Sir, I would like to draw readers' attention to evidence in the literature to support the fact that surgical third molar extraction can lead to adverse impacts on taste function.1 This generally is attributable to iatrogenic damage to the sensory taste fibres from the anterior aspect of the tongue which are carried via the facial nerve (chorda tympani division) to unite with the lingual nerve, a branch of the mandibular nerve, before it traverses the foramen ovale.

These fibres are prone to damage as a result of their proximity to the retromolar pad. Lower degrees of trauma to nerve fibres as a result of third molar extraction may be unnoticed, with postoperative complaints being more common for somatosensation. Apart from hyposensitivity, there is evidence in literature to support the occurrence of hypersensitivity due to nerve damage.1

The literature has generally evaluated adverse effects of third molar extraction on taste for a period of six to nine months and it is generally believed that such effects wane with time.

There is now evidence in literature to support that patients undergoing third molar extractions actually presented with better long-term scores for all four qualities of taste (3-10% enhancement) as compared to controls who did not undergo surgery.1 Women also scored higher as compared to men, while taste function tended to decline with age. The findings require prospective validation and the basis for this occurrence remains unknown. However, the plausibility could be due to either an afferent sensitisation of the facial nerve fibres or as a result of an incomplete release of tonic inhibition exerted upon the glossopharyngeal nerve by the facial nerve.