Effect of adjunctive low level laser therapy on gingival graft: A Review of the Literature

Mucogingival surgery is performed to correct defects in the morphology, position, and/or amount of gingiva. Such post-operative complications as bleeding, swelling, and pain have often been documented after mucogingival surgery and are associated with discomfort after surgery. The low-intensity laser has been used to promote analgesia. Low level laser therapy (LLLT) not only accelerates wound healing by acting on the inflammatory process but also improves micro angiogenesis. It has been reported that lasers also reduce pain. This study was aimed to review effect of adjunctive LLLT on gingival graft.

The most recognized databases such as PubMed, Google scholar and Science direct, were searched using keywords Gingival recession; Free gingival graft; Gingival Graft; Low-level laser therapy; Low-level laser; Photo biomodulation therapy during 2009 to 2021. At last, only 8 articles were included in the study.

3 studies failed to show effect of LLLT on the healing of gingival grafts analgesia. 4 studies could show that LLLT was an effective adjunctive treatment in pain control during early healing of free gingival graft. One study showed that the LLLT could increase the predictability of CAF, with significantly higher percentages of complete root coverage.

In summary, data demonstrated that the surgery with laser therapy provided clinical advantages in terms of wound healing and postoperative pain. It may help less shrinkage of the graft dimensions and accelerate the rate of epithelialization at the donor site.