Evaluation of post-operative pain, edema, trismus following third molar surgery using low level laser therapy: A...

Post-operative pain, edema and trismus following surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars significantly affect patient quality of life and remain a major clinical concern. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in reducing these post-operative complications. Hence, sixty patients undergoing bilateral impacted mandibular third molar extractions received LLLT on one side and sham treatment on the contralateral side, with assessments of pain, edema and mouth opening on post-operative days one, three and seven. The LLLT group demonstrated significantly lower pain scores; reduced facial edema and improved mouth opening compared to the control side at all evaluated time points. Thus, we show that LLLT is an effective noninvasive adjunctive modality for minimizing post-operative morbidity following impacted mandibular third molar surgery.