Effect of Photobiomodulation on the Incidence of Alveolar Osteitis and Postoperative Pain following Mandibular Third Molar Surgery: A Double‐Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

The current study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of photobiomodulation therapy for the prevention of incidence of alveolar osteitis (AO) and postoperative pain following third molar surgery. In this double-blind clinical trial, the impacted teeth of patients having bilateral impacted mandibular third molars were surgically extracted; for each participant, one socket was randomly assigned to receive photobiomodulation treatment, the other received sham treatment. 660 nm 200 mW CW was applied at a distance of ~1cm to 4 points on the occlusal area of extraction socket (beam area at the tissue ~0.64 cm 2 , 312.5 mW cm À2 , 1J, 1.6 J cm À2 ). Also, 810 nm 200 mW CW was applied at tissue surface at three points on the buccal and three points on the lingual gingiva, for 15 s (400 mW cm À2 , 3 J, 6 J cm À2 ). There was a statistically meaningful difference in AO frequency between the two groups, and the photobiomodulation group showed lower AO frequency compared with the sham PBM treatment (P-value = 0.035). According to the findings of this study, photobiomodulation therapy reduced the incidence of AO following surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. The incidence of AO typically occurs 3-7 days post-extraction, and our results suggest that PBM treatment within the 7 days could help reduce the risk of AO development.

New bone conservation technology of impacted teeth extraction

“…In order to protect the alveolar bone as much as possible, we can increase the gap inside the tooth, to transfer the space needed for extraction of impacted teeth to the inside of the tooth, which would provide enough space by removing/grinding the unnecessary tooth tissue 17,18 . If necessary, we can use the split drill to grind the surface tissue of the tooth to provide enough space for tooth elevator, whilst preserving the alveolar bone at the same time 19,20 . This operation can provide a larger space for the dislocation, which would not cause excessive crush injury to the surrounding alveolar bone, especially to avoid the accidental fracture of the lingual bone plate.…”

“…17,18 If necessary, we can use the split drill to grind the surface tissue of the tooth to provide enough space for tooth elevator, whilst preserving the alveolar bone at the same time. 19,20 This operation can provide a larger space for the dislocation, which would not cause excessive crush injury to the surrounding alveolar bone, especially to avoid the accidental fracture of the lingual bone plate. Such an operation would further reduce the occurrence of trauma and postoperative complications.…”

The Involvement of Photobiology in Contemporary Dentistry—A Narrative Review

“…Photobiomodulation, also known as low-level light therapy (LLLT), has been attracting attention in the dental field due to its potential to improve a wide range of oral conditions. Due to its anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and antibacterial properties, photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) has emerged as a potential and successful therapeutic option for the management of oral mucositis, periodontology, temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain, dental implant osseointegration, and orthodontic tooth movement, which has been investigated in several studies [ 99 , 100 , 101 ].…”

Photobiomodulation after Surgical Extraction of the Lower Third Molars: A Narrative Review

“…Twenty-five studies reported a reduction of pain when compared to placebo [23,24,26,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]39,40,52,[54][55][56][58][59][60][61][62][63]. In these studies, lasers were used both intraorally and extraorally, and the laser's parameters were as follows: wavelengths ranged from 632 to 1064 nm; powers were between 4 and 1000 mW; energy densities were between 3 and 212 J/cm 2 .…”