Comparison of Pain, Facial Swelling and Mouth Opening of Single Versus Multiple Suture Technique After Third Molar Extraction

Extraction of the third molar is a common technique. Pain, swelling and trismus are common signs of local inflammation during the postoperative phase. Moreover, opinions are divided when it comes to the mucosal closure phase of impacted mandibular third molar Objective: To compare the pain, facial swelling and mouth opening of single versus multiple suture techniques after third molar extraction. Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 54 patients aged 18-35 requiring mesioangular mandibular third molar extraction. Participants were non-randomly assigned to Group A (single suture) or Group B (multiple suture). Exclusions were based on suture allergies, chronic conditions, pregnancy, lactation, or acute infections. Impacted molars were classified using the Pell-Gregory system, and radiographs assessed impaction. Participants were instructed to return on the 1st, 3rd, and 7th postoperative days for assessment of Pain, swelling, and mouth opening, and comparisons between the two groups were made using the Student's t-test. Results: Patients in groups A and B had mean and standard deviation pain levels of 6.9 ± 0.9 and 6.4 ± 0.9 post-operatively on Day 1 and 2.0 ± 2.1 and 2.5 ± 2.7 on Day 7. Post-operative facial swelling measured 15.4 ± 2.4 and 17.0 ± 3.4 mm on Day 1, 14.8 ± 2.4 and 4 ± 2.7 mm on Day 7 in groups A and B. Mean and standard deviation of mouth opening in groups A and B were 26.5 ± 3.6 and 23.7 ± 2.8 mm post-operatively at Day 1, 29.6 ± 3.6 and 27.2 ± 3.0 mm at Day 7. Conclusions: It was concluded that based on post-operative pain, swelling, mouth opening, and trismus following third molar extraction, single suture approach was somewhat better than multiple suture.