Randomized Control Trial of Comparing low level Helium-Neon laser and pharmacological therapy in pain relief of patients with temporomandibular disorders

About 20 to 30% of adults suffer from temporomandibular joint disorder, out of which 90% seek therapy for symptoms relating to temporomandibular joint. Non-surgical treatment is the first step in the treatment of patients with joint pain and dysfunction. Common therapeutic methods to reduce pain and dysfunction of temporomandibular joint are: drug therapy, laser therapy, physical therapy, etc. While previous studies have addressed the effects of drug therapy and laser therapy on patients with temporomandibular joint disorders, none of them have used Helium-Neon laser. Additionally, no comparison has been made between the effects of this method and drug therapy. Consequently, the aim of the present study is to compare the effects of laser and drug therapy in patients with temporomandibular joint disorders. This randomized control trial was carried out on a sample of 72 patients who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of drug therapy and laser therapy. Inclusion criteria was patients within the age of 20 to 45 who had at least two of the following symptoms: 1.Dysfunction of masticatory muscles; 2.Restrictive jaw movements; 3.Clicking sound; and exclusion criteria included: 1. Any kind of systemic illness; 2.Any kind of supportive therapies like drug therapy and physical therapy; Evaluation of pain was done using Visual Analog Scale and Active Range Of Motion. Both methods were effective in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders; however, laser showed significant decrease in the recovery process.

Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences