SynthesisLasers in medical science2022
Low-level laser therapy is effective in controlling postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Lasers in medical science, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of photobiomodulation therapy on pain perception during anesthetic puncture of dental local anesthesia: A systematic review.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Pooled it
- Nonpharmacological Complementary Interventions for the Management of Pain after Third Molar Surgery: An Umbrella Review of Current Meta-Analyses.Pain research & management · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of ozone therapy on post-operative pain following mandibular third molar surgical extraction: a split-mouth randomized clinical trial.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Trial
- Preoperative 15 mg of melatonin for surgical discomfort, pain, edema and trismus in mandibular third molar surgery: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Trial
- Clinical and thermographic evaluation after lower third molar extractions and the application of different photobiomodulation protocols: double-blind randomised clinical trial.Clinical oral investigations · 2024Trial
- Laser-Based Photobiomodulation in Postoperative Tissue Healing in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Systematic Review of RCTs.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- The Immediate, Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Photobiomodulation on Chronic Post-Surgical Pain After Tympanomastoidectomy Surgery.Journal of lasers in medical sciences · 2026Article
- Effects of Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT) in the Management of Postoperative Pain After Third Lower Molar Extraction: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Influence of photobiomodulation and radiofrequency on the healing of pressure lesions in mice.Lasers in medical science · 2024Article
- Low-Level Laser and Light Therapy After Total Knee Arthroplasty Improves Postoperative Pain and Functional Outcomes: A Three-Arm Randomized Clinical Trial.Arthroplasty today · 2023Article
- Near-Infrared Photobiomodulation of the Peripheral Nerve Inhibits the Neuronal Firing in a Rat Spinal Dorsal Horn Evoked by Mechanical Stimulation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Unraveling the parameters and biological mechanisms of COFrontiers in neurology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy in controlling postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions. A search was carried out in MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library (CENTRAL) databases, using the "low-level laser therapy", "photobiomodulation therapy", "impacted mandibular third molar", "mandibular third molar", "third molar extraction" descriptors and 2625 studies were found, including only randomized clinical trials published until July 2020, with no restrictions on language and country of study. Selected studies were submitted to initial screening based on the reading of titles, abstracts and full article, and duplicate studies were excluded. Overall, 2562 articles were found, of which only 15 randomized clinical trials were included in this review. A total of 648 patients (16-44 years) who received low-level laser therapy as an intervention and placebo in their control group were evaluated. The pain evaluation criterion was the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) on the second and seventh days after surgery. Photobiomodulation with low-level laser showed statistically significant reduction in postoperative pain in lower third molar extractions, both on the second (MD: - 0.59; CI: - 0.92, - 0.27) and seventh day after surgery (MD: - 0.76; CI: - 1.21, - 0.32).
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.