Intraoperative removal of third molars does not affect the postoperative infections after BSSO - Randomized controlled trial.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the incidence of postoperative wound infection and timing of mandibular third molar removal in bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO). This wis a prospective, single-blinded, randomized, split-mouth clinical trial. All patients were divided into two groups: Group I, where pre-operative removal of the third molars were done 6 months prior to BSSO and Group II, where intra-operative removal of contralateral third molars were done for the same patients during the osteotomy. The primary outcome variable studied was postoperative infection rate and the secondary outcome variable was bad split during BSSO. Among the seventy five patients (150 sites), one site in group II developed infection whereas none of the sites in group I developed infection (p = 1.000). No sites had bad split in both the groups. The results from the present study show that there is no difference between the presence or absence of mandibular third molars on post-operative wound infection following bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, and the authors hence suggest removing third molars during BSSO for patient comfort.

Role of Virtual Reality in Pain Perception of Patients Following the Administration of Local Anesthesia.

BACKGROUND: Dental anxiety and anxiety-related avoidance of dental care creates significant problems for the patients and dental practitioners. Administration of local anesthesia is one of the procedures which results in increased anxiety level among patients. AIM: The aim of this study was to study the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) as a distraction tool during the administration of local anesthesia in patients undergoing a dental procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients were randomized into two groups, namely, control group (n = 25) and study group (n = 25). Preoperative, intra-operative, and postoperative pulse rate and oxygen saturation were measured using pulse oximeter for all the patients. Local anesthesia was administered without the use of VR for the control group and with the VR for the study group. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data were evaluated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20. Student's t-test was used to compare the variables. RESULTS: Statistically significant results were obtained for preoperative and postoperative oxygen saturation, intraoperative pulse rate, and postoperative visual analog scale pain scale. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study indicate that immersive VR is an effective distraction tool to alleviate the anxiety of the patient.