Photobiomodulation with Laser Technology to Reduce Pain Perception during Fixed Orthodontic Treatment: Literature Review and New Perspectives with LED Devices

Despite the growing demand for improving smile aesthetics and occlusal functionality, a significant percentage of patients still refuse or discontinue orthodontic treatment because of pain and discomfort related to this therapy. As consequence, controlling the pain experienced by patients during the same therapy represents a primary concern for both patients and clinicians. Recent pieces of evidence have suggested that photobiomodulation can reduce pain experienced by patients during the decrowding stage or during specific protocols, for example, rapid maxillary expansion. PBM can be performed with lasers and also with a light-emitting diode (LED) device. Nonetheless, few studies on the latter are still present in the literature. The aim of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of photobiomodulation (PBM) with Laser devices in pain management in fixed orthodontic treatment. Only 14 of all articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were therefore used to conduct the research. The different studies compared, in most cases, patients whose mouths were divided into a part treated with PBM and a placebo part. Most of their results show a statistically significant difference in perceived pain between the irradiated arch and the nonirradiated arch. Three authors did not find statistically significant results in favor of PBM, but they used different laser parameters. To obtain generally valid studies, with consistent and reproducible results, it is necessary to standardize the different laser parameters used. LED is less operator-dependent than laser and PBM using this technology seems to have a biological basis similar to that with lasers. In some studies, its clinical efficacy in pain reduction in some orthodontic therapies has been verified. Finally, this article aims to consider LED technology as a future prospect of research on PBM use in orthodontics.