Evaluation of Sir William Kelsey Fry Technique in Lingual Surgical Removal of Impacted Lower Third Molar With Retraction Lingual Nerve

Although the scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery has expanded in many directions recently, the common or recurrent practice remains dentoalveolar surgery including impaction surgery. The main indication to extract is whether the third molar has involved in a disease process.

Permanent injury of lingual and chorda tympani nerve (influenced by taste sensations) following removal mandibular third molar remains a clinical problem in oral and maxillofacial surgery. To reduce the risk of lingual nerve injury, the current protocols in North America accentuate raising a buccal flap and following a buccal approach during removal impacted mandibular third molar. However, there was no uniform success as a clinical reality showed. Many patients are still being referred to specialist centers for the management of lingual nerve injury. In most cases, the surgeon was not discerned of any incident that could cause the neurological injury. The alternative technique is Lingual split technique.

Lingual split technique for removal impacted mandibular third molars introduced by Kelsey Fry and described by Ward in 1956 by removing a thin piece of disto-lingual bone and removing the tooth lingually. This technique is initially designed to remove distal and lingually inclined impacted mandibular third molar. This technique has not received much appreciation because of potential associated morbidity. Complications with this technique are potential damage to the lingual nerve, increasing hemorrhage from the lingual cohesive soft tissue, infection expansion to the sublingual or sublingual spaces and edema close to the airway. Several modifications have been made on the lingual split technique which they have reduced trauma and prevent complications. The advantages of this technique are easy, safety, less time-consuming and minimal tissue trauma and complications with good outcomes. Also, it allows obtaining the impacted third molar in one piece, and may be used as a donor tooth for non-restorable molar replacement. It has the advantage of reducing the volume of residual thrombosis when using sauzerization means. Few studies look specifically at the lingual split technique, which has been criticized for causing a high rate of lingual nerve injury and excluded for centuries.

The independent basis in lingual spilt technique is that the lingual plate is much thinner than the buccal, especially in cases where the tooth is fully bone impacting. It is suitable for use in young patients only with a flexible bone where the grain is clear.6 The direction of the grain and the presence of the lingual prominence of the alveolar process allow the desired part of the bone plate to easily detach by chiseling and this makes the technique more rapid.