Influence of piezosurgery on the intra- and post-operative course: Preliminary results

OBJECTIVES. To compare the effects of piezoelectric and traditional surgical molar extraction in terms of soft-tissue healing and patient discomfort. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Six patients underwent extraction of the low third molar (impacted). In a seventh patient, the first inferior premolars were extracted for orthodontic purposes. A total of 9 procedures were performed: 6 were carried out with traditional methods, and 3 were done with piezoelectric surgery. Mucosal biopsies taken from the surgical site the day of the procedure (day 0) and 6 days and 4 weeks after the procedure were subjected to histological analysis. Patient discomfort was rated subjectively by means of a visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS. Histological analysis of mucosal specimens revealed no significantly differences between the two methods in terms of the inflammatory reaction provoked. VAS scores for the patients treated with traditional methods ranged from 5 mm to 27 mm; those treated with piezoelectric surgery had scores between 19 mm and 31 mm. CONCLUSIONS. The results obtained in this preliminary study do not reveal any substantial differences in the post-operative effects of piezosurgical and traditional surgical extraction methods. Analysis of a larger number of cases is needed to draw meaningful conclusions.