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Effect of low-level laser therapy on orthodontic dental alignment: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to systematically summarize the available evidence regarding low-level laser therapy (LLLT) speed-up effect on dental alignment in comprehensive orthodontic treatment. An extensive electronic search was conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus up to February 20, 2023. The Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Form were used by two authors independently to assess the risk of bias (RoB). Statistical analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.3. The eight eligible trials were reviewed and included in qualitative synthesis. Four studies reported the overall time of leveling and alignment (OLAT, days), enabling a synthesizing of the data. The meta-analysis results showed that LLLT significantly reduced the overall time of leveling and alignment compared to control group (MD=−30.36, 95% CI range −41.50 to −19.22, P<0.0001), with moderate heterogeneity (χ2=4.10, P=0.25, I2=27%). Based on the data available, statistically significant evidence with moderate risk of bias suggests that LLLT may have a positive effect on accelerating dental alignment. However, due to the differences in intervention strategy and evaluating method, the conclusions should be interpreted with caution.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Qingdao Key Health Discipline Development Fund (2022–2024) and the Qingdao Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases (22-3-7-lczx-7-nsh).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthodontics, Qingdao Stomatological Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    De-Hua Zheng, Yu-Qing Du, Qian-Qian Zhang, Feng-Chun Hou, Shu-Qiang Niu & Yan-Jun Zang

  2. Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Basic Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

    Bing Li

  3. Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

    Bing Li

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  1. De-Hua Zheng
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Contributions

DH-Z carried out data acquisition and drafted the manuscript. QQ Zhang and YQ-Du were involved in data interpretation and literature research and contributed significantly to the preparation of the manuscript. YJ Zang and SQ Niu formulated the table of “Characteristics of included studies.” FC-Hou and BL designed and coordinated the study and had significant impact in drafting the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

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Correspondence to Bing Li.

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Zheng, DH., Du, YQ., Zhang, QQ. et al. Effect of low-level laser therapy on orthodontic dental alignment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lasers Med Sci 38, 184 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-023-03835-w

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