Abstract: Abstract: Objective To evaluate effects of different types of gingival flap suture on the quality of life in patients after removal of mandibular third molar. Methods A randomized, controlled clinical trial design was adopted. Sixty-two patients in oral surgery department, Stomatology Hospital of Tianjin Medical University were selected. Patients were required removal of bilateral symmetry impacted mandibular third molars, and enclosed suture (primary suture) was used in one side, open drainage suture (secondary suture) was used in the other side. The postoperative symptom severity scale (PoSSe scale) was used to evaluate the quality of life in patients after removal of mandibular third molar. The evaluation was completed 7 days after surgery, and the scale was compared between two groups. Results A total of 57 cases of clinical data were enrolled in the final analysis. The operative time for primary suture group was (17.7±4.6) min, and the operative time for secondary su⁃ ture group was (16.3 ± 5.1) min, the difference was not statistically significant (t=1.539, P＞0.05). The PoSSe score was sig⁃ nificantly higher in primary suture group (26.348±12.414) than that of secondary suture group (21.633±11.382, P＜0.05). Conclusion Secondary suture reduces the influence of teeth removal on quality of life in patients through relieving pain and swelling, and which is suitable for clinical application.

Key words: gingiva, suture techniques, molar, third, tooth, impacted, tooth extraction, quality of life, gingival flap