Effects of low-intensity laser therapy over mini-implants success rate in pigs

The success rate of miniscrews when used as temporary orthodontic anchorage is relatively high, but some factors could affect its clinical success such as inflammation around the miniscrew. Low-intensity laser therapy has been widely used for biostimulation of tissue and wound healing specially for its anti-inflammatory effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of low-intensity laser therapy over the miniscrew success rate. Five Landrace's pigs received 50 miniscrews on the buccal side of the mandible and on the palate of the maxilla. All the miniscrews were immediately loaded with 250 gf. The laser group were irradiated with a 780-nm diode laser with 70 mWs for 1 min (dose = 34 J/cm(2)); the contralateral side was used as the control group. The miniscrews were photographed and analyzed clinically every week to determine their stability and presence of local inflammation. After 3 weeks, histological analysis and fluorescent microscopy were performed to compare the laser and the control side. Clinical results showed a success rate of 60% for the control group and 80% for the laser-treated group. The histological analysis and fluorescent microscopy demonstrated that the laser group had less inflammatory cells than the control group and the bone neoformation around the miniscrew was more intense. Low-intensity laser therapy increased the success rate of orthodontic miniscrews, probably due to anti-inflammatory effect and bone stimulation.