Evaluation of the effectiveness of three different pain scales in pediatric patients undergoing diode laser-assisted frenectomy

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate postoperative pain levels in pediatric patients undergoing diode laser-assisted frenectomy and to compare the effectiveness of three different pain assessment scales. Materials and Methods: The study included 53 pediatric patients aged 8–14 years who were admitted to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University and underwent diode laser frenectomy due to frenulum anomalies. Postoperative pain levels were evaluated using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale, the Modified Emoji Pain Scale, and a gender-specific visual scale during the first seven days after surgery. Comparisons between the scales were made, and differences related to gender, time, and scale type were analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 11.5 software package. For non-normally distributed data, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate gender differences, while correlations between the scales were assessed using Spearman correlation analysis. The Friedman test was applied to analyze time-dependent changes during the postoperative period. A significance level of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: The findings obtained after diode laser-assisted frenectomy indicated that postoperative pain levels were low and that pain scores significantly decreased over time. A strong correlation was observed among the three different scales, demonstrating the reliability of the assessments. Gender analysis revealed that girls reported higher pain scores than boys in the early postoperative period; however, this difference lost its statistical significance in the subsequent days. Conclusion: The use of multiple and gender-sensitive pain scales improves the reliability of subjective pain assessment and supports the development of individualized approaches in pediatric pain management. Keywords: Diode laser, frenectomy, pediatric patient, pain assessment scales, Wong-Baker, Modified Emoji Scale