title: The effect of sutureless wound closure on postoperative pain and swelling after impacted mandibular third molar surgery.
abstract: Our aim was to assess the influence of sutureless and multiple-suture closure of wounds on postoperative complications after extraction of bilateral, impacted, mandibular third molars in 30 patients in a split mouth study. After the teeth had been removed, on one side the flap was replaced but with no suture to hold it in place (study side), and on the other side the wound was closed primarily with three sutures (control side). Recorded complications included pain, swelling, bleeding, and formation of periodontal pockets. The results showed that patients had significantly less postoperative pain and swelling when no sutures were used (p=0.005). There were no signs of excessive bleeding or oozing postoperatively on either side. Six months postoperatively there was no significant difference in the depth of the periodontal pocket around the second molar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. hamid5212@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hamid Mahmood
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beshkar
authors.forename: Reihaneh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aghajani
mesh_terms: D004487:Edema / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000601:surgery; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000601:surgery*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000209:etiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013536:Suture Techniques; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000379:methods; D014095:Tooth, Impacted / Q000601:surgery*; D058106:Wound Closure Techniques; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult