In the quest to find the an effective way to control orthodontic pain without medicines, the results of this placebo-controlled, randomized clinical study revealed no statistical noteworthy difference in pain scores for any studied time point between the laser group and placebo concerning spontaneous and chewing pain except after 72 hours of laser use for chewing pain only.

This randomized trial examined the efficacy of Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) effectiveness in spontaneous and chewing pain relief after the first orthodontic archwire placement.

In this trial, 26 patients (mean age 20.07 ± 3.13 years) with maxillary Little’s Irregularity Index (LII) of ≥7 mm representing the first maxillary premolars extraction and no medicine use were considered. They were randomized to receive either LLL or placebo. Blinding was relevant for patients only. The patients were given a single LLL dose (wavelength 830 nm, energy 2 J/point) in 2 points each of palatal and buccal area for each maxillary anterior tooth root in the laser group. The placebo group patients had same laser application technique minus the laser beam. After different time points i.e. 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 2 days, and 3 days of treatment, the patients scored their sponteneous and chewing pain intensity via the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The mean pain scores between the laser and placebo groups for both sponteneous and chewing pain at each time point were compared using the independent t-test.

There were no dropouts. No statistical significance was found for each studied time point (p > 0.05) for both sponteneous and chewing pain apart from after 3 days for chewing pain with a VAS score of 18.84 ± 13.44 mm for the laser group than 38.15 ± 27.06 mm for the placebo, inspite of few clinical differences between the groups represented in following graph:

Fig 1: Mean pain scores of chewing pain

LLLT was not effective for pain relief concerning initial orthodontic archwire placement.