A self-retaining mouth prop for intraoral access during periodontal surgery in rat models: A technical note

Rodent models are widely used in oral health research; however, maintaining stable and effective intraoral retraction in the small oral cavity is challenging. Manual retraction methods often lead to procedural instability, operator fatigue, and increased tissue trauma during rodent oral surgery.

A stainless-steel wire mouth prop incorporating helices for self-retention and auxiliary lateral soft tissue displacement prongs was fabricated. 32 adult Wistar albino rats were randomly allocated to two groups (n = 16 each). In the experimental group, procedures were performed using a custom mouth prop, and the control group underwent conventional manual retraction. Outcomes included time to achieve adequate retraction, slippage events per procedure, operator fatigue scores, and complication rates. Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis of retraction time, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for slippage frequency, and fatigue scores. Statistical significance was determined using a Bonferroni-adjusted threshold of p < 0.017.

Retraction time was significantly shorter in the experimental group (2.5 ± 0.6 min) than in control group (6.3 ± 1.2 min, p < 0.001). Slippage events per procedure were markedly lower with mouth prop (0.1 vs. 3.4 ± 1.1, p < 0.001). Operator fatigue scores were also reduced (2.4 ± 0.8 vs. 7.2 ± 1.4, p < 0.001). Complication rates were significantly lower in the experimental group (p = 0.024).

The proposed custom-made mouth prop demonstrated favorable procedural handling characteristics during rat intraoral surgery and may serve as a practical, low-cost refinement tool for improving intraoral access and procedural stabilization in experimental oral research settings.