Passive drainage through the vestibular oblique incision in impacted inferior third molar surgery: a preliminary study.

The aim of the present study was to clinically evaluate the variables pain, swelling and trismus when two different suture techniques were applied in surgery of impacted lower third molars. The sample comprised 20 patients of both genders participating in the clinical trial at the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, with an indication for the removal of bilaterally impacted lower third molars. They were divided into test and control groups. Complete suture was performed on the free and attached gums in the control group and only on the attached gum of the oblique vestibular incision in the test group. The results showed that the fact that the drainage of fluid through the suture was not obliterated led to diminution of pain 48 hours after surgery. No statistically significant differences were observed in relation to swelling, which diminished gradually in both groups. As regards the variable trismus, the test group presented a greater mouth opening throughout the evaluation, being statistically significant at 7 days. The probing depth, three months postoperatively, was found to be greater in the control group. This difference reached statistical significance for the vestibular distal region of the adjacent second molar. It is concluded that the strategy of not suturing the free gum of the oblique vestibular incision in the extraction of impacted lower third molars leads to the diminution of immediate painful symptomatology, but has no influence on the swelling.