In a recently published prospective study in Journal of Oral Biology and Craniofacial Research, Chitosan was found to be effective in encouraging wound healing and early osteogenesis in erupted tooth socket after extraction.

Chitosan accelerates the process of healing and also induces bone formation. Akshat Gupta et al. conducted the present study to evaluate if chitosan based dressing was effective in wound healing after the lower third molar extraction. In 27 patients, symptomatic symmetrical mandibular third molars were extracted simultaneously, and the chitosan dressing was positioned into the extraction socket in the test side. VAS (0 - 10 pain score) was used to record the pain scores. The comparison of wound healing was carried out between the right and left side. The radiographic findings were examined by observing lamina dura and the density of extraction socket.

It was found that the test group had more pain than control at all time intervals. The unerupted tooth sites depicted mean pain score significantly more than erupted tooth sites. In the case of wound healing, the test group had superior outcomes than control. Erupted tooth showed better healing than unerupted tooth. Twelve sites revealed better radiographic findings in chitosan treated group compared to 3 sites in the control group at 2nd week. Fourteen sites had improved bone formation in chitosan treated group compared to 4 in the control group at 3rd month.