Comparison of the donor site healing following free gingival graft procedure with and without topically applied ozonated oil as wound dressing.

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to compare and assess the wound healing efficacy of topically applied ozonated oil in palatal wounds following a free gingival graft (FGG) procedure.

Materials and methods: A total of 10 patients were selected and randomly assigned to control or test groups. FGG surgery was carried out on all the patients. In the test group, the patients received ozonated oil of 14 μg/mL concentration at the donor site. In the control group, the patients were not treated with ozonated oil and received only stent at the donor site. The primary outcomes calculated were postoperative pain (Visual Analog Scale) and wound healing index (Landry et al.), and the secondary outcome calculated was wound size for up to 28 days.

Results: A total of 10 individuals completed the study. A statistically significant reduction was observed in both primary and secondary outcomes. Statistically significant differences were noted in intergroup comparison at 5^th, 7^th, 14^th, 21^st, and 28^th day with a mean difference of -3.200 (P = 0.001), -2.200 (P = 0.018), -1.600 (P = 0.027), -1.800 (P = 0.037), and 2.600 (P = 0.001), respectively. In intragroup comparison, there were no statistically significant differences in the index scores in the groups on the 5^th and 7^th day, and a significant improvement in healing was observed in both the groups by time from the 14^th to 28^th day. In intergroup comparison, statistically significant differences were noted on the 5^th, 7^th, 21^st, and 28^th days with a mean difference of 1.400 (P = 0.005), 1.400 (P = 0.005), 1.000 (P = 0.020), and 1.400 (P = 0.002), respectively. Statistically significant reduction in coronal-apical dimension of wound size was noted at the 5^th, 7^th, 14^th, 21^st, and 28^th day from baseline with a mean difference of -1.400 (P = 0.002), -1.200 (P = 0.040), -1.600 (P = 0.001), -2.200 (P ≤ 0.001), and -1.800 (P = 0.007), respectively. There was no statistically significant reduction in the mesiodistal dimension of wound size on the 5^th and 7^th day with a mean difference of - 0.600 (P = 0.174) and - 0.600 (P = 0.208). Significant differences were noted on the 14^th, 21^st, and 28^th days from day 0 with a mean of - 1.600 (P = 0.019), -2.600 (P = 0.001), and -2.200 (P = 0.003).

Conclusion: These results suggest that topical ozonated oil application on palatal wounds following FGG harvesting enhances tissue healing in terms of epithelialization and wound size reduction and also reduces postoperative discomfort.