Effect of the Surgeon's Dominant Hand on Postoperative Periodontal Status of Adjacent Molars After Removal of Lower Third Molars

Purpose The purpose was to investigate the effect of the surgeon's dominant hand and the side (right or left) of surgical removal of third molars in the mandible on the probing pocket depth and probing attachment level on the adjacent second molars. Patients and Methods This study included 73 patients (46 female and 27 male patients; average age, 15.9 ± 1.9 years) with 146 asymptomatically submucosal (fully covered by oral mucosa) or impacted (completely enclosed by bone) lower third molars surgically removed by a right-handed surgeon. The probing pocket depth and probing attachment level (outcome variables), as well as the gingiva and plaque indexes (other variables), were documented preoperatively and 6 months after surgical removal. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed, and the P value was set at .05. Results The mean probing pocket depth decreased by 0.69 mm on the lower left second molar and by 0.64 mm on the lower right second molar over the follow-up of 6 months. The mean attachment gain was 0.45 mm for the lower left second molar and 0.40 mm for the lower right second molar. The side differences between these changes in probing pocket depth ( P  = .620) and probing attachment level ( P  = .545) were not significant. The gingival index ( P  = .029) and plaque index ( P  = .007) deteriorated significantly for the lower right compared with the lower left second molar. Conclusions For a right-handed surgeon, the operated side had no influence on the changes in probing depth and attachment level on the adjacent second molars.