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Review
. 2021 Jul 1;13(7):e724-e732.
doi: 10.4317/jced.58084. eCollection 2021 Jul.

Photobiomodulation and myofascial temporomandibular disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis followed by cost-effectiveness analysis

Ana-Paula-Taboada Sobral  1 , Sergio-de Sousa Sobral  1 , Thalita-Molinos Campos  1 , Anna-Carolina-Ratto-Tempestini Horliana  1 , Kristianne-Porta-Santos Fernandes  1 , Sandra-Kalil Bussadori  1 , Lara-Jansiski Motta  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Photobiomodulation and myofascial temporomandibular disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis followed by cost-effectiveness analysis

Ana-Paula-Taboada Sobral et al. J Clin Exp Dent. .

Abstract

Background: Photobiomodulation (PBM) is a non-invasive and non-pharmacological treatment, which, has shown beneficial results in the treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) related pain. This systematic review and meta-analysis study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of photobiomodulation in the treatment of myofascial pain associated with (TMD by analyzing randomized clinical trials published from 2007 to February 2019. The secondary objective of the study was to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of TMD treatment with photobiomodulation in patients with myofascial pain.

Material and methods: International databases were used: Pubmed, Medline and Web of Science; the initial search raised 316 papers, and only 17 papers met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review (SR). Of these, only 04 papers met the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis: VAS data represented by numerical scores and placebo control group.

Results: As for the wavelength, the most used value was 780nm (followed by 830nm. The most used treatment time was 4 offered treatments for 4 weeks; followed by 10 sessions. Regarding periodicity, 9 studies used 2 times a week. The meta-analysis showed that laser-treated groups had painful symptoms improvement that was superior to the control group (mean difference 1.49;95% CI = -1.67; -1.32). Laser therapy showed a cost-effectiveness of $1,464.28 by controlled pain intensity and placebo showed $2,866.20 by controlled pain intensity.

Conclusions: The studies were considered to have moderate quality of evidence. Laser-treated groups had painful symptoms improvement that was superior to the control group and photobiomodulation was more cost-effective than placebo in patients with TMD and myofascial pain. Key words:Temporomandibular disorder, Myofascial pain, Photobiomodulation, Placebo, Cost-effectiveness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest related to this study. They did not receive any funding for this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of individual bias.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest Plot with Data from Meta-Analysis Studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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