Preoperative photobiomodulation reduces pain in molar surgery: A, double-blind clinical trial
Abstract
Background: Postoperative pain, swelling, and functional limitations are common after mandibular third molar surgery, affecting recovery and quality of life. This randomized, double-blind clinical trial evaluated the effects of preemptive photobiomodulation therapy with infrared LED on postoperative pain, as well as edema and trismus.
Methods: Eighty healthy participants requiring lower third molar extraction were randomly assigned to a photobiomodulation group or a sham group. Nine patients from each group were excluded from the sample because they did not comply with the postoperative instructions. The treated group received photobiomodulation (850 nm, 100 mW, 24 J) 1 hour before surgery and additional applications at 48 h and 7 days postoperatively. Pain intensity, swelling, trismus, and quality of life were assessed at baseline, 48 h, and 7 days after surgery.
Results: The photobiomodulation significantly reduced pain at 48 h (p < 0.001) compared to sham, although no difference was observed on day 7. Swelling resolution was superior in the photobiomodulation group, with facial measurements returning to baseline by day 7, unlike in the sham group. No significant difference was found for trismus. Quality-of-life scores favored photobiomodulation, particularly regarding social activities, swallowing, and sleep quality.
Conclusions: Preemptive photobiomodulation with infrared LED effectively reduces early postoperative pain and accelerates edema resolution in lower third…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Matrisome: In Silico Definition and In Vivo Characterization by Proteomics of Normal and Tumor Extracellular Matrices
- The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities
- In silico pharmacology for drug discovery: methods for virtual ligand screening and profiling
- In silico prediction of splice-altering single nucleotide variants in the human genome
- In silico clinical trials: how computer simulation will transform the biomedical industry
- In silico optimization of a guava antimicrobial peptide enables combinatorial exploration for peptide design
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.