Frenectomyusing Diode Laser VersusConventional Scalpel Technique

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare between frenectomy by diode laser versus conventional technique in the degree of postoperative pain expressed by patients, satisfaction of participants and rate of healing after frenectomy. Fourteen volunteers (10 femalesand 4 males) with age ranging from 16- 40 years, who required frenectomy were selected for the study, they divided into two groups, A and B. Group A: consists of 7 volunteerswere treated with laser technique (one case was lingual frenum and 6 upper labial frena). Group B: consist of 7 volunteers whowere treated with conventional scalpel technique. Postoperative pain and functional complication, ranges of each patient were recorded using a visual analogue scale after 3hours,3days and 7days after frenectomy operation for both groups. Clinical assessment of healing wasrecorded after 3 days, 7days and 1 month. The obtained results indicated that patients treated with the diode laser had less postoperative pain and fewer functional complications and required fewer analgesics compared to patients treated with the conventional scalpel technique (P value = 0.001). Wound healing was delayed in the laser group after 1 month. Based on the results, it can be concluded that diode laser treatment used for frenectomy operations provides better patient perception interms of postoperative pain and function than that obtained by the scalpel technique.