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Low-level laser therapy is effective in controlling postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract 

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy in controlling postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions. A search was carried out in MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library (CENTRAL) databases, using the “low-level laser therapy”, “photobiomodulation therapy”, “impacted mandibular third molar”, “mandibular third molar”, “third molar extraction” descriptors and 2625 studies were found, including only randomized clinical trials published until July 2020, with no restrictions on language and country of study. Selected studies were submitted to initial screening based on the reading of titles, abstracts and full article, and duplicate studies were excluded. Overall, 2562 articles were found, of which only 15 randomized clinical trials were included in this review. A total of 648 patients (16–44 years) who received low-level laser therapy as an intervention and placebo in their control group were evaluated. The pain evaluation criterion was the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) on the second and seventh days after surgery. Photobiomodulation with low-level laser showed statistically significant reduction in postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions, both on the second (MD: − 0.59; CI: − 0.92, − 0.27) and seventh day after surgery (MD: − 0.76; CI: − 1.21, − 0.32).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), as well as the authors Eroglu CN and Landucci A for providing data not found in articles reporting their studies, which enabled the inclusion of these studies in the meta-analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate in Dentistry, State University of Paraiba (UEPB), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil

    Daiane Domingos de Barros

  2. Graduate in Dentistry, Integrated Colleges of Patos (FIP), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil

    Josefa Simere dos Santos Barros Catão

  3. Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, State University of Paraiba (UEPB), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil

    Alieny Cristina Duarte Ferreira, Thamyres Maria Silva Simões & Maria Helena Chaves de Vasconcelos Catão

  4. Specialist, Master and Doctor in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Traumatology Professor at the University of Pernambuco (UPE), Pernambuco, Brazil

    Renata de Albuquerque Cavalcanti Almeida

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  1. Daiane Domingos de Barros
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Correspondence to Maria Helena Chaves de Vasconcelos Catão.

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The original version of this article was revised: In the original publication of this article, the author Renata Albuquerque Cavalcante Almeida was inadvertently not mentioned.

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de Barros, D.D., dos Santos Barros Catão, J.S., Ferreira, A.C.D. et al. Low-level laser therapy is effective in controlling postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lasers Med Sci 37, 2363–2377 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-021-03470-3

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