Thermographic monitoring of wound healing and oral health-related quality of life in patients treated with laser (aPDT) after impacted mandibular third molar removal

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of low-level laser therapy on wound swelling, wound temperature changes, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) after surgical removal of impacted lower third molars. Forty patients with impacted lower third molars requiring surgical removal participated in this study; all were Pell-Gregory class IIB or IIC. The patients were divided randomly into two groups for post-extraction therapy. One group received antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) and the other received no additional therapy (placebo group). Temperature measurements were done using an infrared thermographic camera on days 3 and 7 postoperative. OHRQoL was assessed in both groups on day 7 using the Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire translated into Croatian (OHIP-14-CRO). Prior to surgical treatment, there was no difference in patient characteristics between the two groups. A significantly lower temperature and less wound swelling were recorded on day 3 postoperative in the aPDT group compared to the control group (P<0.001). Participants in the aPDT group also had significantly lower OHIP-14-CRO summary scores (P<0.01). The present study showed beneficial effects of the aPDT modality of low-level laser therapy: postoperative wound swelling was reduced and wound temperature decreased, and OHRQoL was better through the 7-day postoperative period in comparison to the placebo group.

Keywords: diode laser; quality of life; thermography; third molar extraction.