A Review of Wound Closure Technique-Patient Morbidity Relationship After Wisdom Tooth Surgery

Abstract

Background: Surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars is associated with various postoperative complications like pain, swelling and trismus. These complications influence the patients' quality of life in the week following surgery. Many surgical interventions had been attempted to limit these complications, among them is the wound closure techniques. This study carry out a literature review to evaluate the impact of these techniques on patient morbidity following LM3 surgery. Materials and method: The MEDLINE and PubMed database was searched for the related studies. Twenty-one randomized prospective clinical trials, that measure part or all of the immediate outcomes, were included. Results: Twenty-one randomized prospective clinical trials were evaluated. They described the partial wound closure modalities, including single suture technique, the excision of mucosa immediately distal to the second molar, the placement of drain, and a "sutureless" technique. Conclusion:The role of wound closure techniques on immediate postoperative sequlae revealed a varied opinion among researchers.

Comparison Between Primary and Secondary Method of Closing Surgical Wound After Tooth Extraction: A Split-Mouth Study

“…An alternative option to this technique is secondary closure of wound by different methods, wherein the socket remains in communication with oral cavity by creating a pseudo-socket through a wedge preparation of mucosa about 5-6 mm distal to the second molar following closure of flap [4]. This type of wound closure allows the escape of inflammatory exudate from surgical site, thereby maintaining a self-irrigating opening [5]. There have been other ways of providing secondary healing by insertion of drains, gauze dressings and modified flap designs [6,7].…”