Piezosurgery versus conventional rotary surgery for impacted third molars: A randomised, split-mouth, clinical pilot trial.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have compared the effects of piezosurgery and conventional rotary surgery for impacted wisdom teeth on the quality of life. Among these studies, the inclusion parameters and evaluation methods have varied. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study aimed to compare the effects of piezosurgery and conventional rotary instruments on the quality of life using a standardised method. Patients with bilateral and symmetric mandibular impacted wisdom teeth were included based on the Winter and Pell-Gregory scale and Yuasa difficulty index criteria. The primary objective was to assess the effects of the methods on the quality of life using the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 questionnaire. Secondary objectives included comparisons of swelling, trismus, pain, and total operative times. The study was conducted between October 2021 and March 2022. The clinical trial protocol was recorded in the United States National Library of Medicine clinical trial registry (NCT05545553). RESULTS: We enrolled 20 patients (40 wisdom teeth) and found that the removal of impacted teeth using the piezosurgery method positively affected the quality of life and considerably improved swelling, trismus, and pain scores. However, piezosurgery may affect postoperative morbidities such as increased total operative times. CONCLUSIONS: Piezosurgery appears to have advantages over conventional rotary surgery for impacted wisdom tooth extraction in terms of quality of life and postoperative symptoms. However, further research should investigate potential drawbacks and confirm these findings.

Prevalence of nasolacrimal canal obstruction and epiphora following maxillary orthognathic surgery.

Acquired injuries of the nasolacrimal apparatus may be the result of craniomaxillofacial surgical procedures, facial trauma, or inflammation. Injury to the nasolacrimal duct system following maxillary orthognathic surgery is rarely reported. This study evaluated the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of epiphora developing after Le Fort I surgery. The records of 83 patients who underwent maxillary orthognathic surgery over a 2-year period were reviewed. The prevalence of postoperative epiphora was 3.6% and it persisted for a mean of 32.7 days. No patient required further surgical treatment of the nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Clinicians should evaluate the lacrimal canal position and schedule close postoperative follow-up of injuries to the nasolacrimal apparatus. These may become permanent, necessitating additional surgery.

Evaluation of two different rapid maxillary expansion surgical techniques and their effects on the malar complex based on 3d cone-beam computed tomography.

We compared and evaluated the effects of two techniques used for surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME) using three-dimensional (3D) cone-beam computed tomography, focusing on changes in soft and hard tissue in the malar region. A conventional Le Fort I osteotomy group (10 patients, mean age: 19.3 years) and a high Le Fort I group (12 patients, mean age: 20.4 years) underwent 3D analyses. Changes in hard and soft tissue of the malar region were compared. The average increases in the bone malar width and soft malar width in the high Le Fort I group between the pre- and postoperative periods were 1.43 ± 1.23 and 1.39 ± 1.19 mm, respectively. The average increases in the bone malar depth on the right and left sides in the high Le Fort I group were 1.34 ± 0.81 and 1.60 ± 0.54 mm, respectively. Progress in hard tissues did not reflect significant changes in soft tissue. CONTEXT: Effects of high Le Fort I SARME on the malar complex. AIMS: To compare and evaluate the effects of two techniques used for SARME, using 3D cone-beam computed tomography, focusing on changes in hard and soft tissues in the malar region. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A conventional Le Fort I osteotomy group (10 patients, mean age: 19.3 years) and a high Le Fort I group (12 patients, mean age: 20.4 years). METHODS AND MATERIAL: Each group underwent 3D analyses, and changes in hard and soft tissues of the malar region were compared. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The SPSS software (ver. 15.0 for Windows) was used. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Student's t test, and paired-samples test were conducted. RESULTS: The average increases in the bone malar width and soft malar width in the high Le Fort I group between the pre- and postoperative periods were 1.43 ± 1.23 and 1.39 ± 1.19 mm, respectively. The average increases in the bone malar depth on the right and left sides in the high Le Fort I group were 1.34 ± 0.81 and 1.60 ± 0.54 mm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Progress in hard tissues did not reflect significant changes in soft tissue.

Sliding malar bone augmentation technique with a high le fort I surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion.

The purpose of this report is to evaluate the effectiveness of a high Le Fort I osteotomy design, including the malar bones, which allows segment sliding over the zygoma and forces the osteotomized segment to move forward with distraction. Two patients (male, 23-and 30-year-old) with malar deficiency underwent high Le Fort I osteotomy and surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion procedure was followed. Records were taken before and 6 months after surgery for comparison, including intra and extra oral photographs and three-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. The bone malar width and bone malar depth changings in malar region were evaluated. Preoperative and postoperative CBCT images and clinical views of the patients showed forward movement of the malar region.

Indirect measurement of the temporomandibular joint disc elasticity with magnetic resonance imaging.

OBJECTIVES: The radiological evaluation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) consists of demonstrating the morphological features of the disc and the condyle in closed and open mouth positions using MRI. We aimed to determine elasticity of the disc by measuring the amount of elongation during mouth opening. METHODS: The study population included 49 patients. Coronal T(1) and multiplane oblique T(2) weighted gradient recalled echo sequences were acquired in open and closed mouth positions. Biconcave TMJ disc lengths were measured on sagittal oblique images in both positions. Elongation ratio (ER) was calculated for each patient. According to the findings, TMJs are classified into subgroups: normal (N), dislocated with reduction (DWR), pure DWR (p-DWR), DWR with additional findings (DWR-a) and dislocated without reduction (DWOR). Statistical analysis was performed using the χ(2) test and receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Out of 98 discs, 22 of them were evaluated as N, 60 as DWR (28 p-DWR, 32 DWR-a) and 16 as DWOR. There was no significant difference among the disc lengths in three subgroups at the closed mouth position (P = 0.15), whereas there was significant difference in the open mouth position (P = 0.0001). There was significant difference among subgroups as far as ER is concerned (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ER is a strong indicator of elasticity. Compared with the N group, elasticity of the disc was not significantly different in the p-DWR group but the disc elasticity was very degraded in DWR-a and in DWOR. A negative conversion or one smaller than 1.4 mm means a compromised disc, although sometimes it will possess normal anatomical configurations or signal characteristics.