ASSESSMENT ON RESULTS OF SURGICAL EXTRACTION OF  IMPACTED LOWER THIRD MOLARS WITH POSTOPERATIVE LOW - LEVEL LASER THERAPY

Abstract

Background: The most frequently performed surgical procedure in dentistry is impacted third molar extraction with difficulty varies according to the location of the tooth. Laser therapy after surgery can accelerate cell and tissue reconstruction along with relieve post-operative pain. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical and radiographic characteristics of impacted lower third molar and to evaluate the results of surgical extraction of impacted lower third molar with post-surgical low-level laser therapy (LLLT). Subjects and Methods: Clinical and radiographic data from 90 patients (average age 28.13 ± 5.38) subjected to a surgical extraction of lower third molar were pooled and divided randomly into 3 groups: group 1 received LLLT immediately after surgery intraorally, group 2 treated with LLLT immediately after the extraction extraorally. Patients received routine management with nonactivated laser were inserted in the control group. Assessments of pain, swelling and trismus level were carried out at 24, 48 hours and on the 7th day after surgery. Results: Correlation of wisdom teeth to ramus and adjacent teeth mainly type II (88.9%), type III accounted for 11.1%. Relative depth of wisdom teeth in the bone mainly position B (81.1%), position C (18.9%). Correlation of wisdom teeth axis to adjacent teeth: horizontal (58.9%), mesioangular impactions (40%) and distoangular impaction (1.1%). There were statistically significant decreases in the level of pain, edema and interincisal opening between the laser-treated groups and the control group on the 1st and 2nd postoperative day. Conclusions: Intraoral and extraoral post-surgical low-level laser therapy treatment was useful in reducing swelling, pain and trismus compared to placebo group in impacted third molar surgery. Key words: Impacted lower third molar, low- level laser therapy