The effects of low dose laser therapy on wound healing, evaluated by clinical and laser doppler flowmetry measurements, on smokers and non smokers

The aim of this split‐mouth controlled clinical trial was to assess the effects of LLLT, with 980nm diode laser, on healing of gingiva after gingivectomy on smokers and non-smokers. A total of 38 individuals, 19 smokers and 19 non-smokers, who were diagnosed with chronic inflammatory gingival enlargement in which at least 6 teeth were symmetrically affected in the maxillary anterior region were included in the study. After gingivectomy surgery, a 980 nm low level laser with a total dose of 4 J/cm^2 was applied to the randomly determined area on the 0., 1., 3., 5. and 7. days. After staining of the surgical area with Mira-2-tone dye on the 3rd, 5th and 15th days, the intraoral photographs of the individuals were recorded for evaluation in Image J software. Tissue perfusion values were determined on the 3rd, 7th and 15th days with the help of Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) device. The pain perceptions of individuals were recorded with the help of the visual analog scale (VAS) on the 1st and 7th days. The compliance of clinical data to the normal distribution was examined using the Shapiro-Wilks test. While evaluating within-group parameters based on time; Friedman test was used for analysis of more than two dependent parameters and Willcoxen test was used for analysis of two dependent parameters. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare test and control groups at a certain time. When the test and control groups were compared in terms of healed wound surface areas, the results in the test group were greater than in the control group in all examination periods. This difference was statistically significant between 3rd and 5th days and between 3rd and 15th days (p <0.05). In the test group, the healed wound surfaces of the smokers between the 3rd and 5th days and between the 3rd and 15th days were statistically significantly larger than the non-smokers (p < 0.05). Pain perception values on the 1st and 7th days were statistically significantly lower in the Test group compared to the control group (p <0.05). Although no significant difference was found in tissue perfusion values evaluated by LDF, in non-smoking patients perfusion values in the test group were higher than in the control group in all examination periods (p> 0.05). The same situation could not be observed for smokers. Within the limits of this research; the hypotheses that LLLT application with 980nm diode laser will accelerate the healing process and that LLLT application will contribute more to the recovery process in smokers compared to non-smokers are supported. It has been determined that after gingivectomy surgery, LLLT application will reduce the pain perception of patients and increase patient comfort.