Use of photodynamic therapy in the prevention and treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaw: an integrative literature review

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the prevention and treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaw through an integrative literature review. Thus, a search was carried out in 8 scientific bases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, LILACS, BBO, SciELO and ClinicalTrials) using pre-established descriptors and search strategies, without language restrictions, date of publication and country where the study was carried out. Screening was carried out based on titles, abstracts and the full reading of studies by 2 evaluators, simultaneously and independently. The search identified 309 studies and 2 additional references were manually identified. After excluding duplicates, 236 studies were selected for analysis based on titles and abstracts, and 17 articles were fully read. After reading articles, 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Among them, 8 are case reports or case series, 2 are in vivo studies with animal models and 1 was an in vitro study. It was observed that despite the diversity of protocols found, studies pointed out that PDT can be considered a supporting therapy useful in the prevention and treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaw. However, due to the absence of randomized clinical trials on the subject, it is suggested the development of further studies in order to have stronger scientific evidence and to more safely support the use of PDT in the treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaw.