Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Removal of impacted teeth is a very common surgical procedure performed by dentists. The importance of the patient’s discomfort from the surgical removal of third molar impaction is the post-operative complications infection. The antibiotics have been utilized to prevent or reduce the occurrence of those incidences. So the present was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis after removal of impacted mandibular third molar. Materials and Methods: A double-blind clinical study was done on 30 healthy out-patients (12 females and 18 males) age range of 18 to 28 years with impacted mandibular third molars were taken for the study. A total of 30 patients were randomly allocated into two study groups comprising of 15 study participants in each group. Group 1: 625 mg of combined amoxicillin and clavulanic acid tablet + 400 mg metronidazole tablet for 5 days Group 2: No antibiotic prophylaxis. Both the groups were assessed postoperatively on the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th day by the same observer for post operative mouth opening (interincisal distance), pain and presence of a purulent discharge at the site of surgery. Vernier caliper was used to record the post operative mouth opening in millimeters. Post operative pain was assessed by using a four-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results: The severity of pain recorded using VAS score showed no statistically significant differences between the study groups on day 1. But, the number of study participants with severe pain was observed to be more in group 1. On day 2, the number of study participants with severe pain was slightly reduced in the group 1 as compared with group 2. On day 5, patients with no pain were more in group 1 followed by group 2 which was statistically significant. Pain was completely reduced at 7th day in both the study groups. On 2nd, 5th and 7th day mouth opening was slightly more in group 1 study participants (25.42±1.80, 30.68±0.96, 33.60±1.42mm) respectively. And there was a statistically significant difference observed between the study groups on day 5.On day 5 and 7 there was a slightly more purulent discharge in group 2 (5 participants & 2 participants) compared to group 1 (3 subject & 1subject) respectively. Conclusion: On conclusion, administration of an antibiotic prophylaxis showed no significant differences in the degree of postoperative complications that occur after surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. Key words: antibiotic prophylaxis, mouth opening, purulent discharge, third molar surgery.