Eficácia da terapia com laser de baixa potência em pacientes portadores de disfunção temporomandibular

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of low level laser therapy in temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients. Materials and Methods: The sample of this randomized double-blind clinical trial was composed by 32 patients (19 experimental and 13 placebo). The sample selection occurred among adults of both genders with painful symptoms in head and neck region. The TMD diagnosis was established by RDC and the treatment consisted in eight sessions of laser therapy twice a week for four weeks and follow ups occurred in seven, 15, 30, 60 days after the tretament. Visual analogue scale (VAS ) of pain, temporomandibular index (TDI) and the OHIP-14 were used as data collection instruments. Results: Two patients were excluded, one in each group, resulting in 18 patients in the laser group (median age of 32), and 12 in placebo group (median age of 44,5). The value of the initial and final VAS was respectively 8 and 5 (p = 0.003) for the laser group and 7 and 4 (p = 0.03) for the placebo group. In other follow up times there was no statistically significant difference between the times or between groups (p> 0.05). The ITM showed improvement only in muscle subgroup between the inicial and final times in the placebo group (P = 0.01) and OHIP presented statistically significant in initial and final assessment both intragroup laser group (p = 0.004) and in the placebo group (p = 0.043). Survival analysis showed that the treatment time proposed for this study was effective in reducing pain in laser group. The placebo group also showed improvement of symptoms. Conclusion: The laser applied twice a week for four weeks was effective support therapy to TMD.