Helium-neon laser therapy in the prevention of postoperative swelling and pain after wisdom tooth extraction.

Seventeen patients with symmetrically embedded lower wisdom teeth were selected for this study, intended to evaluate the local effect of soft laser therapy on postoperative pain. Both lower third molars were removed in the same operation. The test side, chosen by lot, was treated using a helium-neon laser (632,8 nm, 8 mW, 50 Hz) for 2 minutes. The other side served as the untreated control side. Facial swelling was measured using a modification of the face-bow technique. Postoperative pain was estimated using a visual analogue scale (VAS). When it became apparent that conventional statistical analysis was revealing no difference in postoperative swelling and pain between the test and the control groups, the study was discontinued for ethical reasons.