LLLT in treating dentinary hypersensitivity: new concepts

Dental hypersensitivity has been studied for several years and it is reported as a strikingly painful condition originating from the exposition of dentinal tubuli . The exposed area is subjected to several kinds of stimuli, resulting in a rapid sharp acute pain. LLLT has been shown to have antiinflammatory, analgesic and cellular effects in both hyperemia and inflammation of the dental pulp. Our previous histological study showed that irradiated animals presented an increased production of dentine and shutting of dentinal tubuli. On the other hand, non-irradiated subjects still showed signals of intense inflammatory reaction and even necrosis at the same experimental times. Irradiated teeth did not show cell degeneration. The LLLT was shown to be efficient in the stimulation of odontoblast cells, producing reparative dentin and closing dentin tubuli. Our clinical studies with 660nm, 790nm and 830nm diode laser, and the total dose per tooth of 4J/cm was shown effective in treating dentinal hypersensitivity as it quickly reduces pain and maintains a prolonged painless status in 91.27 % to 97% of the cases. In a recent study our team observed that significant levels of dentinal desensitization were only found in patients belonging to the 25-35 age group. In conclusion, the results demonstrated indeed that LLLT, when based on the use of correct irradiations parameters is effective in treating hypersensitivity, but the age of patients is one of the factors that may alter the success of treatment due to dentinal sclerosis, which makes the penetration of light more difficult.