A retrospective clinical study was performed to compare the post-operative effects of the conventional surgery, piezo surgery technique and submucosal dexamethasone injection in lower third molars extractions.

Data from 62 patients, subjected to surgical extraction of lower third molars, were pooled and divided into three groups such as: Conventional Group (22 patients), Piezo Group (20 patients) and Dex Group (conventional surgery + 4 mg/1 mL dexamethasone) (20 patients). Pain, swelling, trismus, analgesic consumption and operation time were comparatively evaluated.

Pain values were found lower in Dex Group in comparison to Conventional Group at 7th day (P = 0.007). Edema found to be higher in Conventional Group than Dex Group at 2nd day (P = 0.025). Minimally trismus values were found in Dex Group and the difference between the Dex and Conventional Group found to be statistically significant both in 2nd (P = 0.048) and 7th days (P = 0.010). The analgesic consumption in the Conventional Group was found to be higher than Piezo Group at 2nd day (P = 0.002).

The better post-operative values were obtained in the Dex Group. Although longer operative time is considered to be a disadvantage for the piezo technique, piezotome may be preferred for surgical procedures due to its positive results in comparison to the conventional technique.