Photobiomodulation as an Inflammatory Therapeutic Following Dental Prophylaxis in Canines

The aim of this study was to determine if a single photobiomodulation treatment can reduce oral erythema and edema following routine dental prophylaxis in canines. Photobiomodulation therapy has been documented to accelerate healing time through mitigation of erythema and edema in human and veterinary patients. Canine patients were randomly assigned into three groups: CG (Control, n = 9, mock gingiva treatment without irradiation), LTG (left side treated, n = 8, irradiation of left upper and lower dental arcade), and RTG (right side treated, n = 7, irradiation of right upper and lower dental arcade). Immediately following anesthetized dental prophylaxis, the canines in the RTG and LTG received four points of irradiation (GaAlInP-650 nm, continuous wave, 0.1 W, 0.2 W/cm², 100 sec, 10 J, 20 J/cm²). Erythema and edema along the gingival surface of each dental arcade were scored 24 h after treatment by a blinded veterinary evaluator. Analysis of variance and Bonferroni correction were used for data analysis. Using a composite evaluation, there was significantly lower inflammation scores for the RTG (p = 0.017) and LTG (p = 0.025) relative to the CG at the location of the lower right dental arcade. Evaluating erythema individually, a significant reduction was found in the LTG (p = 0.049) when compared with the CG for the lower left dental arcade. Despite the limitations in this study, the canines who received a single photobiomodulation treatment demonstrated some degree of reduction in oral inflammation and erythema following dental prophylaxis.