Comparing the effects of low-level laser therapy and gaseous ozone as a preventive measure on medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws following tooth extraction: a rat model.

OBJECTIVES

Use of numerous medications such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (sunitinib), monoclonal antibodies (bevacizumab), fusion proteins (aflibercept), mTOR inhibitors (everolimus), radiopharmaceuticals (radium 223), selective estrogen receptor modulators (raloxifene), and immunosuppressants (methotrexate and corticosteroids) has been reported to be a risk factor for development of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws till date. This study aimed to evaluate the preventive effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and gaseous ozone on the onset of MRONJ following tooth extraction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 40 male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into 4 groups of 10 rats each. The groups laser (L), ozone (O), and control (C) received weekly intraperitoneal injections of zoledronic acid (0.06 mg/kg), while group sham (S) received saline solution for 4 weeks. After the 4th injection, all subjects underwent mandibular first molar extraction and adjunctive laser or ozone was applied according to the groups. All the rats were sacrificed at 4 postoperative weeks for comparative histomorphometric evaluation of bone healing in extraction sites.

RESULTS

Laser and ozone groups demonstrated significantly higher bone formation compared to control group (p < 0.05), while no significant difference was found between laser and ozone groups (p = 1.00). Furthermore, the greatest bone formation was observed with the sham group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of the current study support that adjunctive LLLT and ozone therapy following tooth extraction may help prevent MRONJ and improve bone healing in subjects under zoledronic acid therapy.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Since the introduction in 2003, great effort has been devoted to developing a certain management protocol for MRONJ. Several publications have appeared in recent years documenting promising results of adjunctive LLLT and ozone application in treatment of MRONJ. However, experimental data are limited on this regard and the present study, for the first time, aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of LLLT and ozone in prevention of MRONJ.