Balamurugan R, Naveen Benson
Aim: The aim of the study was to compare pain, wound healing and efficacy of operculectomy technique over third molar removal in management of pericoronitis.
Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 150 patients who reported to dental op for management of pain in mandibular third molar region and were further diagnosed with pericoronitis. The study subject was divided into two groups comprising of 75 patients each. Patients in group I underwent operculectomy and for patients in group II, third molar removal was carried out. All the patients were assessed for pain using visual analogue scale (VAS) and wound healing on the 5th postoperative day.
Results: Out of 75 patients in group I, 72 patients had no pain or any discomfort on the 5th post-operative day while 3 patients of this group reported back with pain who were immediately subjected for removal of mandibular third molar. Out of 75 participants of group II, 32 patients had pain and discomfort. Delayed healing was observed in 8 patients of group II and 1 patient of group I respectively with a statistical significance of P<0.05 for group I.
Conclusion: Operculectomy was found to be a promising and efficacious treatment modality for management of patients with pericoronitis when compared with removal of mandibular third molar.