Effect of normal saline in different concentration on soft tissue healing of extraction wound: a clinical study

Abstract

Sodium chloride solution (NaCl) is regarded as the most suitable and recommended medical irrigation, because of the nontoxic and isotonic properties. The previous in vitro study showed that NaCl solution induced migration and extracellular matrix excretion from human gingival fibroblast. However, there is no report concerning the effect of rinsing extraction wound with NaCl solution in clinical trial study. This research study is split mouth single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial to investigate if rinsing with 0.9% and 1.8% NaCl solution on extraction wound can promote soft tissue healing. The operation was performed in 60 socket sites. The patients, who had been planned for bilateral premolar extraction, were randomly divided into 3 groups with different solutions used including sterile water solution (control), 0.9% NaCl solution, and 1.8% NaCl solution, respectively. Mesio-distal dimension, bucco-lingual dimension and the depth of sockets were evaluated to determine the socket wound healing property on day 0 (immediate post-operation), 7 and 21, respectively. The results showed that there was a significant reduction in Mesio-Distal dimension of the sterile water and 1.8% NaCl group in the first week, but not in the third week. The Bucco-Lingual dimension did not show a significant difference in the results. And the socket depth, there was a significant difference in the percentage reduction in socket depth in the 0.9% NaCl group in the third week. The result of this study may be helpful in term of the acceleration of the healing period in the complicated case or in immunocompromised patients.