Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the postoperative outcome in standard Comma Shaped incision and Ward's incision on postoperative complications in surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar. Material and Methods: In this study, 100 patients with impacted mandibular third molar were selected for study. The patients were divided in to two groups. Each group contains 50 patients. A standard Ward's incision was made on one group and a Comma incision was made on another group to reflect the mucoperiosteal flap, after the common steps for removal of impacted third molars were followed. The postoperative parameters were recorded immediately on the postoperative days 1, 3 and 7. For bivariate analyses, Chi square and Student t test were used. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: The pain and swelling scores were found to be significantly lower in the surgical area with Comma incisions, which was recorded on days 1, 3 and 7 as compared to the area where standard Ward's incision were made. In mouth opening, there was a sufficiently great difference seen between the two incisions on first postoperative day, but on day 3 and 7 there was no statistical significance. Conclusion: the Comma Shaped incision design was preferable over the standard Ward's incision, considering the lesser degree of postoperative complications.