Piezoelectric device vs. conventional rotative instruments in impacted third molar surgery: relationships between surgical difficulty and postoperative pain with histological evaluations.

Purpose: To investigate and compare the influence of surgical difficulty on postoperative pain after treatment of impacted mandibular third molars by rotatory osteotomy or Piezoelectric surgery.

Materials And Methods: A prospective, randomized, split-mouth study was performed of 52 patients with bilateral and symmetrically oriented impacted mandibular third molars, who were surgically treated using a burr (Group A) on one random side of the lower jaw and a Piezoelectric device (Group B) on the contralateral side. Surgical difficulty was evaluated using a modified version of the Parant scale to categorize "simple extractions" and "complex extractions".