A Comparative Study of Mucosal Wound Healing after Excision with a Scalpel, Diode Laser, or CO₂ Laser

We aimed to compare the clinical and histological secondary healing effectiveness of various types of high-level laser versus scalpel excision in mucosa frenectomy.

Forty-five Sprague Dawley rats were used in this study. These rats were divided into two laser intervention groups (CO₂, n = 15; diode, n = 15) and one control group with scalpel excision (n = 15). The effectiveness of therapy has been assessed based on the comparison of intraoperative, postoperative, and histological parameters on days 7, 21, and 35, and postoperative weight changes as pain indicator.

Both laser groups demonstrated significantly (P < 0.05) less bleeding than did the control group during the intraoperative stage, whereas the CO₂ laser showed more precise cutting compared with the diode laser (P < 0.05). The highest healing score was reported in the CO₂ and scalpel groups on the first week of healing than in the diode group (P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed between the groups on days 21 and 35. Weight loss was significantly (P < 0.05) demonstrated in the diode group compared to the scalpel and CO₂ groups till day 7. Both laser groups demonstrated delayed healing process compared with the scalpel. Nevertheless, the CO₂ group followed the scalpel trends after day 7.

Scalpel and CO₂ laser yielded a superior clinical outcome compared with the diode excision of oral mucosa, whereby the CO₂ has been proposed as the most effective laser type at the end of the first postoperative month.