Summary of findings 2. Lingual nerve protection during the removal of mandibular wisdom teeth.
| Retractor compared with no retractor during the removal of mandibular wisdom teeth | ||||||
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Patopulation: adults with mandibular third molars requiring removal Setting: oral surgery Intervention: lingual retractor placed (subperiosteal or Free's) Comparison: no retractor | ||||||
| Outcomes | Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | Number of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Assumed risk | Corresponding risk | |||||
| No retractor | Retractor | |||||
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Alveolar osteitis (1‐week follow‐up) |
Not reported | |||||
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Wound infection (1‐week follow‐up) |
Not reported | |||||
|
Permanent altered tongue, chin, or lip sensation (more than 6 months) |
5 per 10001 | 1 per 1000 (0 to 33) | Peto OR 0.14 (0.00 to 6.82) | 380 (1 study) |
⊕⊝⊝⊝ verylow2 | Insufficient evidence to claim either is better |
|
Adverse effects ‐ reactionary bleeding (up to 30 days) |
Not reported | |||||
| *The basis for the assumed risk (e.g. the median control group risk across studies) is provided in footnotes. The corresponding risk (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; OR: odds ratio | ||||||
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GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: we are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect. Moderate certainty: we are moderately confident in the effect estimate; the true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different. Low certainty: our confidence in the effect estimate is limited; the true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. Very low certainty: we have very little confidence in the effect estimate; the true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect. | ||||||
1Assumed risk based on control group. 2Downgraded three times due to single study, unclear risk of bias, low event rates, and imprecision of estimate.