Effectiveness of the photobiomodulation therapy using low-level laser around dental implants: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy has been applied in various fields. Its use in implant dentistry has been proven through various animal, in vitro, and recently also clinical studies. However, the cumulative data of its effect around dental implants in patients is limited.The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether or not the PBM therapy has a positive effect around dental implants and on implant stability.The studies included in the review and meta-analysis were selected according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and the PICOS criteria. The RoB 2 tool was used for assessing the risk of bias and the RevMan software, v. 5.0, was used for meta-analysis. Quantitative analysis was done considering the implant stability measurement as the outcome. The mean and standard deviation (M ±SD) values for implant stability as well as the sample size were extracted from the articles, and the inverse variance method with random effects was used for meta-analysis. The forest plots for all time intervals were inspected to estimate the heterogeneity by assessing the I2 statistic.A total of 148 articles were initially retrieved, out of which 81 remained after duplicate removal. Ten articles were included in the review after rejecting 68 on the basis of title and abstract. Seven were eligible for quantitative analysis. The meta-analysis showed non-significant differences in primary stability in control and laser groups at baseline (p = 0.63) and 3 months and above (p = 0.06). At 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months, the results were statistically significant with p = 0.01, p = 0.02 and p = 0.04, respectively.The PBM therapy showed a positive effect on implant stability during the early stages of healing and can be considered for patients with dental implants.