Novel incision design and primary flap closure reduces the incidence of alveolar osteitis and infection in impacted mandibular third molar surgery

Objective To measure the influence of flap design on alveolar osteitis (AO) and postoperative complications following mandibular third molar surgery. Study Design This study was designed as a randomized single-blind, split-mouth clinical trial. The predictor variable was flap type. Envelope flap, modified triangular flap (MTF), and two related experimental flaps (second molar mesial papilla-sparing marginal incision with distobuccal release with double-pass single-layered primary closure [MPMI-2 X] and single-pass single-layered primary closure [MPMI-1 X]) were used. The primary outcome variable was AO. The secondary outcome variables were wound dehiscence and infection. Bivariate and logistic analyses were computed. P value  Results One hundred ninety-six patients with symmetric bilateral partial bony or full bony impacted mandibular third molars participated. No sites (0 of 196) treated with MPMI-2 X developed AO, and only two sites (2 of 196) treated with MPMI-2 X developed postoperative infection. Both MPMI-1 X and MPMI-2 X were associated with decreased odds of complications compared with MTF and envelope flap. MPMI-2 X sites were significantly less likely than MTF sites to experience complications for both sides. Conclusions MPMI-2 X is a reliable technique to reduce complications, such as AO, wound dehiscence, and infection in mandibular third molar surgery.