Effects of helium neon laser on postoperative complications and wound healing following impacted mandibular 3. molar surgery

The surgical removal of impacted third molars result in some complications such as pain, edema. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of He-Ne laser on pain, edema and wound healing compared with that of placebo..A total number of 20 patients (15 female, 5male) aged between 19-24 years requiring bilateral and symmetrically impacted lower third molar surgical operation were included in this study. Patients were randomly selected.After removing the bilateral, symmetrically lower impacted third molars in the same operation, double-blind He-Ne laser application was carried out to one side and the placebo was applicated to the other side. He-Ne laser with 30 mW power and 655 nm wavelength has been applied to the wound surface at a right angle from a distance of 2 mm and with a total energy amount of 4 j/cm2.The evaluation of the values were conducted by using VAS for pain and facial measures for edeme. In order to follow the healing process, digital images of the operation sites were taken under standardized conditions on preoperative and postoperative days 2, 7, 10, 15, 21 and 30 and digital color seperation technique was performed for images.As a result of statistical analysis of the data, no statistical differences were observed on pain and edema between two groups (p>0.05), however significant statistical differences were observed on wound healing on 7., 10., 15., 21. and 30. days. (p<0.05)According to the results of this study He-Ne laser application can be an alternative, safe and preferable technique in the third molar surgery.