Effect of low-level laser therapy on adolescents with temporomandibular disorder: a blind randomized controlled pilot study.

PURPOSE

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of low-level laser therapy on pain, mandibular movements, and occlusal contacts in adolescents and young adults with temporomandibular disorder.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Individuals aged 14 to 23 years were evaluated. The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders were used for the diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders. Pain was assessed with a visual analog scale. Occlusal contacts were recorded using the T-Scan III program (Tekscan, Boston, MA). The participants were randomly allocated to 2 groups: active or placebo laser treatment. The laser parameters were as follows: wavelength of 780 nm, energy density of 33.5 J/cm(2), power of 50 mW, power density of 1.67 W/cm(2), and 20-second exposure time. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine the normality of the data distribution. The paired t test was used for the comparisons of the pretreatment and post-treatment results. The SPSS program for Windows (version 15.0; SPSS, Chicago, IL) was used for all analyses, with the level of significance set at 5% (P < .05).

RESULTS

No statistically significant differences between groups were found for the right and left anterior temporal muscles (P = .3801 and P = .5595, respectively), superior masseter muscles (P = .087 and P = .1969, respectively), medial masseter muscles (P = .2241 and P = .076, respectively), or inferior masseter muscles (P = .5589 and P = .3268, respectively) after treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

No statistically significant differences were found regarding pain, mandibular range of motion, or the distribution of occlusal contacts after treatment with low-level laser therapy. These preliminary results need to be verified in a larger sample of patients to confirm the lack of response to low-level laser therapy.