Conventional drilling versus ultrasound and laser osteotomy in mandibular third molar surgery: A comparative study

Background There are few research works with in‐depth studies and direct simultaneous comparisons of the effects on tissue reactions and patients' recovery following in vivo conventional drilling, ultrasound‐ and laser‐assisted osteotomy in humans. Objective The current study aims to compare bone cutting duration, pain, swelling, and trismus in patients following surgical mandible third molar extraction by bone removal using three different osteotomes—a conventional rotary device, an ultrasonic unit, and an Er:YAG laser. Methods A prospective, randomized three‐group comparative clinical trial was performed. As an experimental setting for the study, аn open mandible third molar surgery was chosen because osteotomy is included in its protocol. Patients were divided into three groups according to the used device for bone removal. Bone cutting time intraoperatively, facial swelling, trismus, and pain on the first, second, and third postoperative days were assessed. The statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS v. 17.0—Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, one‐way ANOVA, Student's t‐test, Mann–Whitney test, and χ2 test. Statistical results were considered significant at p