A comparative clinical study on physiotherapy outcomes with wooden tongue depressors versus Heister jaw opener in oral submucous fibrosis patients

Objective The aim of this study was to compare mouth opening exercise outcomes with wooden tongue depressors (WTDs) versus Heister jaw opener (HJO) in improving mouth opening after reconstruction of the surgical defect with buccal fat pad (BFP) in oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) patients. Materials and methods Fifty consecutive patients were divided randomly into two groups (25 patients in each group) corresponding to postoperative physiotherapy with WTDs (group 1) and HJO (group 2) respectively. Groups 1 and 2 were evaluated for maximum interincisal distance at 3, 6 and 12 months of follow up. In groups 1 and 2, mouth opening differed substantially at all periods of follow up from preoperative values. Results The increase in mouth opening was greater in group 2 at 3 (P = 0.003) and 6 (P = 0.010) month follow up visit respectively. No relevant difference was observed in mouth opening between groups 1 and 2 at 12 months (P = 0.066). The mean increase in mouth opening at 12 months compared with the preoperative value was 22.2 mm in group 1 and 25 mm in group 2. Conclusion We conclude both WTDs and HJO are effective in improving postoperative mouth opening in OSF surgical patients.