Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Nov-Dec;6(5):391-6.

Trismus and pain after removal of a lower third molar. Effects of raising a mucoperiosteal flap

A García García  1 , F Gude Sampedro, M Gallas Torrella, P Gándara Vila, P Madriñán-Graña, J M Gándara-Rey
Affiliations
  • PMID: 11694874

Trismus and pain after removal of a lower third molar. Effects of raising a mucoperiosteal flap

A García García et al. Med Oral. 2001 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of raising a mucoperiosteal flap on trismus and pain after extraction of an impacted lower third molar.

Study design: We studied a consecutive series of 218 patients, all of whom underwent removal of an impacted lower third molar. Of the 218 patients, 52 (group A) underwent simple extraction without raising a mucoperiostal flap, 17 (group B) underwent extraction with raising of a mucoperiostal flap but without ostectomy, and 149 (group C) underwent extraction with both raising of a mucoperiostal flap and ostectomy (C). Trismus was evaluated as maximum interincisal distance (MID), determined before surgery and 1 and 5 days after surgery (MID0, MID1 and MID5 respectively). Pain was evaluated on the basis of reported analgesic use, likewise 1 and 5 days after surgery.

Results: In group A (no flap), there was no significant diference between MID0 and MID5; however MID1 was significantly lower than MID0. In groups B and C (flap), the difference between MID0 and MID1 was more marked, and in addition MID5 remained significantly lower than MID0. Neither MID0 nor MID5 differed significantly between group B (flap, no ostectomy) and group C (flap plus ostectomy). The proportion of group A subjects reporting analgesic use was significantly lower than the corresponding proportions in groups B and C on both day 1 and day 5, and again there were no significant differences between groups B and C.

PubMed Disclaimer