Biological dentists spend a lot of time thinking about materials. What goes into the mouth matters. It’s why conversations about biocompatibility are so central to our practice.
But materials are only one part of the story.
Any oral surgery – wisdom tooth removal, say, or the placement of a ceramic implant – creates a moment of change. Tissues are moved. Bone is exposed. The body enters a healing process that unfolds over days, weeks, and months. What happens next depends not only on the dentist’s skill but also the biological environment surrounding the site.
In our last issue, we looked at how ozone can be used to support the body’s innate healing abilities over a broad range of procedures. Now, let’s take a closer look at a couple of specific cases courtesy of two recent studies on ozone in oral surgery. What they reveal is less about dramatic intervention, more about what happens when the healing environment is thoughtfully supported.
One study, published in Cureus, focused on dental implant surgery. All participants had identical implant placement – same brand, same torque, same suturing – but half of them also had their implant site irrigated with ozonated saline and medical grade ozone gas. Afterwards, the research team observed how the tissues responded, how inflammation unfolded, and how comfortably healing progressed.
And it turned out to be better for those in the ozone group. Their post-op pain scores were significantly lower. Their soft tissues healed more quickly.
Ozone treatment significantly reduced postoperative pain measured by VAS scores and improved soft tissue healing, noted in higher healing index scores against saline. This is due to ozone promoting postoperative healing through its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and tissue-regenerative actions, all widely reported in the literature. Inclusion of ozone in implant protocols holds promise to enable faster healing and fewer complications, hence better patient outcomes.
Consider: Everything about the implant was as similar as possible from patient to patient. Only the environment changed. And, of course, the surgical outcomes.
A second study – this one in Clinical Oral Investigations – had somewhat similar findings when the surgery was extraction of impacted wisdom teeth. In this case, the research team looked at healing through functional measures, such as how easily post-op patients could open their mouths or how much (or little) pain medication they needed.
Because each participant needed two lower wisdom teeth removed, the researchers used a split-mouth design. One extraction site was treated with ozone, while the other – addressed three weeks later – was not. By comparing recovery at two sites in the same person, the researchers were able to limit differences related to individual pain tolerance or healing ability that might otherwise throw the numbers off.
Seven days after surgery plus ozone, patients could open their mouths more easily and used less pain medication than they did after the procedure without ozone. Interestingly, though, patients reported similar pain levels for both sides. This suggests that ozone may still deliver benefits without necessarily affecting one’s subjective experience.
Ozone therapy was proved to have beneficial clinical effects in terms of mouth opening and in number of analgesic tablets at 7 days after surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar, despite the lack of adjunctive benefit on patients’ perceived pain reduction.
Clearly, ozone is powerful stuff – but not magical, though it can sometimes seem that way to newbies when it’s described as “oxygen with super powers.” The powers come from its structure: three oxygen atoms instead of the usual two. This makes it highly reactive and short-lived. The extra atom readily interacts with pathogens and damaged tissues, disrupting harmful microbes and increasing oxygenation of the surgical site.
As microbes are neutralized and inflammation settles, tissues are better able to clear debris, regulate healing, and move into repair mode.
These same healing principles show up across biological oral surgery – from wisdom tooth removal to procedures that address areas of chronically stressed jawbone (often referred to as “cavitation surgery”) to sinus-related procedures to create a stronger bone foundation for implants (sinus lift surgery).
Ozone fits because it works with the body, not against it, supporting healing as a dynamic, responsive process. When the environment is well cared for, the body tends to do the rest.
