The effect of photobiomodulation using low-level laser therapy on tooth sensitivity after dental bleaching: a systematic review

The authors aimed to conduct a systematic review to assess data from the current literature on the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in preventing tooth sensitivity (TS) after tooth whitening (DB). PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were followed. Clinical trials evaluating the treatment of LLLT in patients with sensitivity after tooth whitening were selected. A full bibliographic search was performed on May 4, 2021, in the following databases: Embase, MEDLINE via PubMed, SciELO, VHL Regional Portal, Web of Science, Gray Literature, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov and Cochrane Library. This study followed Cochrane's recommendations for analyzing risk of bias. A total of 1054 studies were found (255 studies were excluded because they were duplicates and 785 because of titles and abstracts). Only 14 articles were selected for analysis, of which eight were excluded because they had one or more exclusion criteria, resulting in six articles included in this systematic review, the vast majority being classified as low risk of bias. The studies reviewed indicated that LLLT showed promise in preventing TS after TB. However, evidence is limited and more clinical trials with low risk of bias are needed to reach a definitive conclusion on the action of LLLT in pain control after TB.

Automated summary

The authors conducted a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in preventing tooth sensitivity after tooth whitening. The analyzed studies indicated that LLLT shows promise in preventing tooth sensitivity, but more high-quality clinical trials are needed to reach a definitive conclusion.