Association Between Periodontal Flap Design And Site Of Surgery - A Retrospective Study

Background: While non - surgical periodontal therapy remains the first line of treatment for periodontitis, there are limitations to what can be achieved by procedures like subgingival scaling and root planing. Flap surgery is done to access the tooth and the surrounding periodontium for better visualisation and instrumentation purpose. There are various techniques by which flap surgery is performed. Flap surgeries also provide access for osseous surgery and regenerative techniques. AIM:The aim of the study was to assess the Site wise distribution of flap surgery techniques and the possible association between flap design and affected site. Materials And Methods: The study is a Hospital based retrospective study, and included patients visiting a Dental hospital. A total of 731 patients who had undergone flap surgery were selected for the study. The Site wise distribution of flap technique was evaluated and tabulated in MS Excel. The data collected was imported to IBM SPSS Version 20.0 for analysis and results were obtained. Results: The most frequently used or preferred Flap technique was found to be Kirkland Flap technique (72%). The association between Site and Flap technique was found to be statistically significant(Chi Square test,P<0.001). No significant association was found between gender and choice of flap technique(Chi Square test,P>0.001). Conclusion: From the study it can be concluded that the most frequently used flap technique was Kirkland Flap. The Site of periodontal disease was found to have association with the choice of flap technique. Clinical Significance: The clinical significance of this study was to report the influence of the site of surgery on the choice of Flap design.