Osteotomy for lower third molar germectomy: randomized prospective crossover clinical study comparing piezosurgery and conventional rotatory osteotomy.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to compare piezoelectric surgery and conventional rotatory osteotomy for mandibular third molar germ extraction to determine the 2 methods' suitability and the postoperative outcomes.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Mandibular third molar germectomy was performed bilaterally, randomly choosing 1 side for rotatory osteotomy (rotatory group) and the other for piezoelectric surgery (piezo group). The predictor variable was the duration of the surgical procedure. The outcome variables were the suitability of the method used, bleeding, and the postoperative parameters (ie, mouth opening range, clinical appearance of soft tissues, exudate, abscess, wound dehiscence, locoregional lymphadenopathy, pain on palpation at the extraction site, persistent edema) at 7 and 30 days postoperatively. The patients recorded their subjective postoperative pain daily for 7 days using a visual analog scale. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test and stepwise logistic regression model with binary variables were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 26 patients (mean age 15.4 ± 1.29 years) were enrolled in the present study. The time needed to complete the osteotomy and extraction was significantly greater for the piezo group (15.77 ± 6.56 minutes) than for the rotatory group (11.77 ± 6.24 minutes; P = .028). No statistically significant differences emerged between the 2 methods for the other outcome variables considered.

CONCLUSIONS

Piezoelectric osteotomy proved comparable to the rotatory method in terms of the surgeon's perception of the suitability of the 2 methods and the related postoperative sequelae. However, piezoelectric osteotomy took longer to complete than the rotatory method.