Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Oral Health and Nutrition
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2024.1458329

The immediate pain relief of low-level laser therapy for burning mouth syndrome: a retrospective study of 94 cases

Provisionally accepted
Wenxin Mu Wenxin Mu 1,2,3Shanshan Li Shanshan Li 3Qian Lu Qian Lu 1,2,3Juan Wang Juan Wang 1,2,3*Xiaoan Tao Xiaoan Tao 1,2,3*
  • 1 Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center of Oral Diseases, Guangzhou, China
  • 3 Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Significance: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic orofacial pain disorder that seriously affects quality of life of patients. In recent years, Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been regarded as an important innovation in pain management, but there is insufficient evidence of its effectiveness in patients with painful BMS. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of LLLT for immediate pain relief due to BMS. Methods: This retrospective study included 94 BMS patients that were treated with an intraoral semiconductor laser (635nm, 100 mW/cm2). Pain was self-assessed before and immediately after LLLT sessions using a 0-to-10 visual analogue scale (VAS). Paired-samples t-test and multivariable binary logistic regression were used to analyze overall efficacy and its influencing factors. Results: After standardized LLLT session, 71.3% of patients reported an immediate pain decrease. Compared to pre-LLLT treatment, the VAS immediately post-LLLT was significantly reduced (P<0.001). Mean post-LLLT VAS reduction was 2.2 ± 2.0, equivalent to 39.9% of the initial pain level. Meanwhile, low VAS before treatment, history of smoking or alcohol, xerostomia, and gingival lesions correlated with worse LLLT efficacy. There were no side effects or adverse reactions were noticed by the practitioner or reported by the patients. Conclusions: LLLT may provide non-pharmacological, non-invasive, side-effect-free, and rapid pain relief for painful BMS patients. No baseline characteristics affecting overall efficiency were found except for VAS before treatment, history of smoking or alcohol, xerostomia, and gingival lesions.

    Keywords: Low-level laser therapy, Burning Mouth Syndrome, Pain Management, Visual analogue scale, Retrospective study

    Received: 02 Jul 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mu, Li, Lu, Wang and Tao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Juan Wang, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
    Xiaoan Tao, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.