Photobiomodulation is a safe and effective therapy with no apparent side effects for the treatment of erosive oral lichen planus (long-lasting and painful ulceration of the skin and mucosal surfaces) lesions.

Photobiomodulation (PBM) is emerging as a potential alternative treatment, offering benefits such as pain relief, inflammation reduction, and tissue healing without the disadvantages connected with traditional steroid use.

This randomized clinical study compared the effects of PBM versus triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% used as topical therapy for erosive oral lichen planus (OLP).

Forty-four patients with oral OLP were assigned to one of two groups (22 patients in each group:

• PBM group: Patients received a total of 10 sittings of laser therapy (980 nm diode laser; 300 mW output power) two times per week for overall 5 weeks.
• Control/ Placebo group: Patients received topical triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% three times every day + oral miconazole gel one time daily for 4 weeks.

The pain, clinical scores, and biochemical evaluation of the salivary malondialdehyde levels at the baseline, at 6 weeks, and 12 weeks were done after the dental surgery. Mann–Whitney test was used to analyze all the documented data and compare the two groups based on study parameters (pain, size of lesion, and salivary malondialdehyde levels). Within each group, comparisons across the three time periods were conducted using the Friedman test, followed by post hoc testing.

Both groups demonstrated notable improvements in pain levels and clinical scores, with no noteworthy statistical variance between them. Additionally, malondialdehyde levels considerably improved for these groups without any significant difference.

PBM holds promise as a therapeutic approach for treating erosive oral lichen planus, offering potential advantages over steroid therapy without the associated side effects. Additionally, salivary malondialdehyde levels could serve as a biomarker to estimate the grievousness of the disease and investigate the therapy response.