PAIN IN FIXED ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT. ROLE OF PHOTOBIOMODULATION: DREAM OR REALITY?

P. Caccianiga^1*, I. Carminati², G. Caccianiga¹

¹School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy;
²Private Practicioner, Bergamo, Italy

*Correspondence to:
Paolo Caccianiga, DDS
School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca,
20900 Monza, Italy
e-mail: p.caccianiga@campus.unimib.it

ABSTRACT

Pain is an unpleasant emotional and sensory experience. For many years orthodontists have been looking for an effective method of reducing this feeling of discomfort. As a result, Photobiomodulation (PBM) has recently taken hold in the orthodontic field. Among the countless advantages, it can modulate the painful feeling. The aim of this research is to identify the use of photobiomodulation in subjects undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment, to reduce the pain and discomfort it causes. The research was conducted from the Web of Science, Pubmed and Scopus databases. Only 14 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were used to conduct the research. The different studies compared, in most cases, patients whose mouth was divided into a part treated with laser therapy and a placebo part. The results show a statistically significant difference in perceived pain between the irradiated and non-irradiated arch. Three authors did not find statistically significant results in favour of low-laser therapy, but it is important to remember that they used different parameters. To obtain generally valid studies with consistent and reproducible results, it is necessary to standardise the different parameters independent of the operator performing the procedure.

KEYWORDS: photobiomodulation, low-level laser therapy, pain, orthodontic treatment