Flexible Periotomes: The Future of Atraumatic Extractions

This chapter aimed to compare the efficiency of flexible periotomes versus non-flexible conventional periotomes in atraumatic dental extractions of similar teeth.

The study was conducted on patients who have teeth that are indicated for bilateral extraction of similar teeth on the same jaw and were divided into two groups. This randomized controlled clinical trial involving 26 patients requiring nonsurgical tooth extractions bilaterally. A total of 52 extractions were performed, either for orthodontic or implant placement purposes. After the extractions, the researchers evaluated the level of gingival laceration, duration of the procedure, and wound healing on postoperative days 1 and 7. Conventional tooth extraction methods can cause damage to the surrounding bone and reshaping of the socket. The results showed that the flexible periotomes took less time (about 4 minutes) than the conventional periotomes (7 minutes) for the study group (flexible periotome) and control group (traditional periotome), respectively. Furthermore, gingival lacerations in the study group were observed to be less severe. The use of flexible periotomes was found to be more efficient in atraumatic dental extractions compared to conventional periotomes.

This study emphasises the need of doing atraumatic extractions using contemporary technologies, particularly in the era of implantology where there is a greater need for such treatments.