Efficacy of the laser at low intensity on primary burning oral syndrome: a systematic review / Eficacia del láser a baja intensidad en el síndrome oral ardiente primario: una revisión sistemática

ABSTRACT

Background: Primary burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic clinical condition of idiopathic mainly char-acterized by pain and a burning sensation in the oral cavity. The application of laser at low intensity therapy is atreatment option. This systematic review evaluated the efficacy of laser therapy in treating symptoms of burningmouth syndrome.Material and Methods: The study was formulated according to the PRISMA and Cochrane guidelines. Seven da-tabases were used as primary sources of research. Only randomized controlled clinical trials were included. Theefficacy of the therapy was estimated comparing the values of the visual and numerical scales of pain before andafter laser treatment, through qualitative analysis.Results: The search resulted in 348 records and only eight filled the eligibility criteria and were included. All stud-ies evaluated pain and / or a burning sensation considering a time interval of two to ten weeks. The total sampleconsisted of 314 patients submitted to treatment 123 from the control group, who participated with laser off orwith the tip blocked, and 191 from the intervention group, treated with low-level laser therapy. The female genderstood out and the average age of the participants was 60.89 years. The main symptoms reported were pain and aburning sensation in the oral mucosa and tongue. The parameters adopted by the authors for laser treatment werediverse and the variables were not fully described in the published studies. Visual analog and numerical scaleswere used to assess symptoms and only three studies showed statistical significance.Conclusions: It is suggested that laser therapy may be an effective alternative in the treatment of BMS. New ran-domized clinical trials should consider well-established protocols to better understand the efficacy of laser therapywithout confounding the effects.(AU)