Comparison of a piezoelectric and a standard surgical handpiece in third molar surgery

AbstractAimThe aim was to compare the use of a piezoelectric handpiece versus a standard surgical handpiece in removal of impacted third molars under general anaesthesia.Materials and methodsThirty patients undergoing routine third molar removal were included in the study. Panoramic radiographs were used to assess the positioning of the impacted third molars. The patients were randomly subdivided and the split mouth technique was used in which each side (left or right) of the mouth was randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Hence each patient served as their own control. In one group, a piezoelectric handpiece was used, while a conventional handpiece was used for the second group.All aspects of preoperative care, general anaesthesia, surgery and post‐operative care were standardised for the two groups. The following parameters were recorded; time of surgery, bleeding during surgery, post‐operative swelling, post‐operative pain, associated complications and post‐operative nerve injury.ResultsNo statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of pain and swelling. There was less bleeding with the use of the piezoelectric device as compared with the stan