A Comparative Study of the Effect of Primary and Secondary Closure Technique Following Removal of Impacted Mandibular Third Molars

Introduction: Surgical removal of the impacted mandibular third molar is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in oral and maxillofacial surgery. The purpose of this study was to compare the primary and secondary wound closure after surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars by evaluating the extent of facial swelling, the severity of pain and degree of trismus. Material and Methods: A prospective, randomized, clinical trial was conducted in 80 patients. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of 40 each. In Group 1: patients underwent primary closure of the wound and in Group 2: patients underwent secondary closure of the wound. Postoperative pain, swelling, and trismus were evaluated on the 2nd and 7th day postoperatively. Results: Statistically significant difference was observed for facial swelling and trismus on 2nd postoperative days between both groups. Postoperative pain was less in the secondary closure group. Conclusion: From the outcome of the above study we can conclude that the secondary wound closure technique has a significant advantage over primary wound closure concerning swelling and trismus.