Laserterapia como analgésico para el movimiento dentario ortodóncico

Orthodontic pain is very common in orthodontic bonding techniques after placing the first archwire.

The aim of the present work is to determine the effectiveness of the As-Ga-Al laser on this pain in a descriptive, cross-sectional study. A total of 100 patients were studied, divided into 2 groups: 50 cases for the control group, with the remainder making up the study group. The bonding technique only was used for the insertion in the first group, and in the study group, as well as the bonding technique, the aforementioned laser was applied at a power of 5 mW, as an analgesic-anti-inflammatory parameter. It was applied in the immediate exact location with the optic fibre, and lasted 60 seconds, in each interdental papilla that was involved in the bonding technique treatment.

A 3-point visual analogue scale (VAS) was applied 24 hours and 48 hours after the treatment. They were classified as tolerable when the VAS varied between 0 and 1 (no pain or mild pain), and intolerable when it varied between 2 and 3 (moderate to severe pain).

The patients observed an improvement in the intensity of the pain, with significant differences between both groups.

Four cases were classified as tolerable in the control group, whereas 32 patients in the study group were classified as such.

The results were generally better in those patients who received a straight-arch bonding technique than in those with the Ricketts sandwich bonding technique.

There were 3 cases with adverse reactions (dizziness in 2 patients and painful peak in only one) which were not significant.

There was pain improvement in more than half of the patients with 1 or 2 laser applications, thus we recommend it as an alternative treatment in combination with the orthodontic bonding technique.