Alveolar Ridge Preservation
fracture, tooth
PENICILLIN ALLERGY
A 0.12% chlorhexidine rinse (Chenpai, Jiangsu, China) was administered, and local anaesthesia with primacaine (4% articaine hydrochloride with 1:100000 adrenaline) was performed. Minimally invasive extraction of the affected tooth was introduced without flapping. The tooth was sectioned when necessary. Care was taken to preserve the integrity of the socket bone and gingival tissue. Patients were excluded if bone fracture occurred during extraction. After extraction, subjects were allocated to receive either laser treatment (laser group) or conventional treatment (control group) according to the randomized method described above. In the laser group, an Er:YAG laser (Lightwalker, Fotona, Slovenia) was used to completely remove the granulation tissue in the extraction socket (Fig. 
Surgical procedure of ridge preservation in laser group. (
Surgical procedure of ridge preservation in control group. (All subjects received detailed postoperative oral and written instructions; antibiotic drugs were administered as follows: cefradine 500 mg every 6 h for 3 days (or roxithromycin 300 mg every 24 h for 3 days for patients with penicillin allergy) and tinidazole 500 mg every 12 h for 3 days. Analgesics such as ibuprofen (300 mg every 12 h) were administered if necessary. All patients were given oral hygiene instructions and mouthwash (0.12% compound chlorhexidine solution, 3 times a day for 7 days). One week after surgery, the sutures were removed.