Question · asked by 1 review
Low‐level laser therapy vs Placebo (or no irradiation): Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale)
- Population
- Adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment
- Intervention
- Low‐level laser therapy
- Comparison
- Placebo (or no irradiation)
- Outcome
- Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale)
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) showed no clear difference in patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or… compared with placebo (or no irradiation); GRADE not reported.
What each review found
Include earlier review versionsNo studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 4 · 80%Very low 0 · 0%Low 1 · 20%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) vs Placebo (or no irradiation) Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale) · Adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 6 hours Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) showed no clear difference in patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or… compared with placebo (or no irradiation); GRADE not reported. Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment (2016) · Cochrane All outcomes | MD -10.63 [-22.33, 1.07] | 2 studies · 118 participants | GRADE not reported |
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) vs Placebo (or no irradiation) Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale) · Adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 7 days Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) led to lower patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or… compared with placebo (or no irradiation); GRADE not reported. Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment (2016) · Cochrane All outcomes | MD -6.39 [-8.65, -4.13] | 1 study · 58 participants | GRADE not reported |
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) vs Placebo (or no irradiation) Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale) · Adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 6 to 54 hours, Studies using bespoke pain scales Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment (2016) · Cochrane All outcomes | Two further studies (160 participants) used bespoke assessments. Harazaki 1997 (84 participants): slightly lower proportion reporting severe pain in the intervention group, no inferential statistics. Turhani 2006 (76… | 2 studies · 160 participants | GRADE not reported |
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) vs Placebo (or no irradiation) Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale) · Adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 3 days Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) led to lower patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or… compared with placebo (or no irradiation); GRADE not reported. Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment (2016) · Cochrane All outcomes | MD -10.76 [-13.80, -7.73] | 2 studies · 118 participants | GRADE not reported |
Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) vs Placebo (or no irradiation) Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale) · Adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 24 hours Low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) may leads to lower patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or… compared with placebo (or no irradiation) (low certainty). Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment (2016) · Cochrane All outcomes | MD -20.27 [-24.50, -16.04] | 2 studies · 118 participants | Low |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non‐pharmacological interventions for alleviating pain during orthodontic treatment 2016 · Cochrane All outcomes | 2016-10 | Not listed | Not assessed |
Related questions
The same intervention and outcome, asked in another population or against another comparator.
- Low‐level laser therapy vs placebo or no intervention · People undergoing orthodontic treatment (any age; 9 to 34 years in included studies) · 0 reviews
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.