| Summary: | Degree of Master of Science in Dentistry by coursework and research report
A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Dentistry.
Johannesburg, 2016 === Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate:
1) The efficacy of a prophylactic antibiotic regimen compared to a chlorhexidine mouthwash in reducing postoperative infections in mandibular third molar surgery.
2) The pattern of presentation and the indication for extraction of mandibular third molars.
Study Design and Method: A total of 100 patients were randomly assigned to two groups (group 1, 15 ml of chlorhexidine mouthwash for 1 minute before surgery; group 2, 2g amoxicillin orally 1 hour before surgery). The outcome which included surgical site infection and other complications was assessed 7 days postoperatively.
Data collected included patients’ age, gender, type of impaction, indication for extraction and surgical morbidity (postoperative complications). The data were then analysed using the statistical package STATA 13.1 for Windows.
Results: Of the 100 patients, 4 patients in group 1 and 3 patients in group 2 presented with surgical wound infection. The infection rate was 8% for group 1 and 6% for group 2 while the overall infection rate was 7%. No statistically significant difference in surgical wound infection was found between the 2 groups.
The ages ranged from 18 to 46 years with a mean of 27.75(+/- 5.79). There were 48 males and 52 females, the male to female ratio being 1:1.08. Mesioangular impaction was the most common type of impaction recorded (46; 46%), while the most prevalent indication for extraction was pericoronitis (39; 39%).
Conclusion: In terms of efficacy, this study failed to show that amoxicillin prophylaxis is more effective than a preoperative chlorhexidine mouthrinse for reducing postoperative infections in third molar surgery. Hence, antibiotic prophylaxis must not be routinely administered in non-immunocompromised patients for such procedures.
Patients that presented for mandibular third molar extraction were generally young with an almost equal distribution in gender. The pattern of presentation as well as the indication for extraction of mandibular third molars seem to correlate with those found in literature. === MT 2018
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