Scalpel Versus Diathermy in Wound Healing After Mucosal Incisions: A Split-Mouth Study

The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the healing of scalpel and diathermy incision wounds in the oral mucosa. This is a prospective split-mouth study conducted from January 2015 to April 2017 among patients undergoing either Le Fort I or anterior maxillary osteotomy (or both). The study groups were classified based on the different techniques used to make the incision (group A, incision made by a scalpel; group B, incision made by diathermy). Wound healing was assessed on the first, third, seventh, and tenth postoperative days using the Southampton scoring system. Data were statistically analyzed using the Student t test for continuous variables and the χ2 test for categorical variables, and P