Laser therapy, photobiomodulation therapy, and occlusal splint alone or in combination with other therapeutic interventions are effective for short-term relief of temporomandibular disorders-linked pain.

A systematic review was carried out to determine the efficacy of conservative distinct therapeutic modalities to alleviate temporomandibular disorders (TMD) pain.

To find out the randomized clinical trials (RCTs), a systematic electronic search was performed in  MEDLINE (PubMed) database. The following search terms with single or multiple conjunctions were chosen: (i) TMD pain, (ii) therapeutic modalities or interventions and TMD, (iii) TMD management or conservative treatment or treatment strategies and TMD pain.

Studies included patients older than 18 years and those having painful TMD, with a diagnosis made using Diagnostic Criteria for TMD or Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD. Pain alleviation and post-treatment pain intensity reduction were the outcome variables ascertained. For analyzing the data, non-parametric tests were used.

Notably, 28 RCTs out of 1599 publications fulfilled all inclusion requirements and were incorporated. As found, using an occlusal splint alone or in conjunction with other therapy modalities considerably minimized short-term post-treatment TMD discomfort when compared to the control group. In the short-term therapy of TMD-associated pain, considerable differences were also noted between the laser and photobiomodulation group and the control.

The occlusal splint alone or in combination with other therapeutic interventions demonstrated a favorable impact on short-term TMD pain alleviation. Secondary results implied that laser and photobiomodulation therapies also play a substantial role in the short-term management of pain.