Comparative Study of Effects of LASER, TENS, and Anesthetic Gel for Controlling Pain after Placement of Elastomeric Separators: A Clinical Trial

Abstract

A bstract Aim This study aimed to study the intensity and duration of patients’ pain perception after placement of elastomeric separators and the effects of various methods to reduce the pain. Materials and methods Elastomeric separators were placed on either side of first molars in 120 patients which were divided into 4 groups. Patients in group I were control group, group II underwent low-level LASER therapy, group III were subjected to topical anesthetic gel, and group IV underwent TENS (transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation). And then they were asked to measure pain using a visual analog scale (VAS) at 5 intervals of time, i.e., immediately after separator placement, after day 1, day 2, day 3, and day 4. Results Turkey's post hoc test showed that pain score after immediate placement of separators was found to be the least in the anesthetic gel than that in other groups and pain score was least in the LASER group out of all four groups on day 1, 2, 3, and 4. Conclusion It was found that low-level LASER therapy was more effective in reducing pain after placement of elastomeric separators. How to cite this article Oza MJ, Desai H, Iyengar SS, et al. Comparative Study of Effects of LASER, TENS, and Anesthetic Gel for Controlling Pain after Placement of Elastomeric Separators: A Clinical Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(S-1):S82–S86.

The protocol of low-level laser therapy in orthodontic practice: A scoping review of literature

“…[ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 ] The pain reduction was assessed in 40 experiments. [ 18 20 , 21 23 , 24 28 , 37 38 39 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 ] Only five articles evaluated the impact of LLLT on root resorption. [ 17 73 74 75 76 ] The included experiments consisted of 24 parallel-group randomized control trials (RCTs), and 34 split-mouth RCTs, whereas two articles did not report how their subjects were allocated into each group.…”

“…Visual analog scales (VASs) appeared to be the most popular tool to gather self-perceived pain, which was used in 29 articles. [ 18 20 , 23 37 , 38 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 , 56 58 , 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 , 69 70 , 72 ] Eight articles employed numerical rating scales (NRS). [ 24 39 , 54 55 , 57 60 , 67 68 ] The Wong–Baker faces pain rating scale, used in three articles, could also be applied to collect self-reported pain.…”

“…There was an experiment comparing the impact of LLLT on pain reduction with anesthetic gel and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, which the laser method appeared to be more effective. [ 69 ] Only eight articles reported no positive impact of LLLT on pain reduction.…”

“…The data summarized in Tables 1 – 3 of this review were analyzed from 60 articles listed in the reference section. [ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 ]…”

Comparative Evaluation of Effect of TENS on Controlling Pain Associated with Orthodontic Separator Placement—A Clinical Study

“…Numerous substances released as a result of local inflammation, including prostaglandin and bradykinin, have an effect on sensory endings and cause the start of painful feelings. [ 2 ]…”