The effect of low level laser therapy on inferior alveolar nerve damage after maxillofacial surgery

One of the complications that may occur after maxillofacial surgery is inferior alveolar nerve (IAS) damage. There are various methods for the treatment of IAS injury, and one of them is low energy level laser (DESL) therapy. DESL in dentistry; It is used in many areas such as accelerating wound and bone healing after surgery, analgesic and anti inflammatory effects, treatment of gum diseases, treatment of herpes labialis and herpetic gingiveostomatitis, treatment of soft tissue lesions, treatment of nerve damage and TMJ disorders. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of DESL treatment on IAS damage. Our study consists of 55 patients (range 15-80 years old; mean age 35.69±11.87), including 39 women and 16 men. 22 of the inferior alveolar nerve injuries were caused by orthognathic surgery and 44 were due to other surgical procedures (twenty-eight surgery, implant surgery, fracture, cyst enucleation, bone augmentation, root canal treatment, injection). Clinical parameters used to detect nerve damage before and after DESL treatment; 2 point discrimination, pinprick, light touch and VAS. Patients who were followed up between 6 and 48 months were divided into two groups: less than 2 years and 2 years or more. According to the study results, a statistically significant improvement was observed in all 55 patients and their complaints decreased (p<0.05). In 14 patients, it was observed that their symptoms completely resolved and their senses returned to normal. It was observed that starting DESL treatment did not make a statistical difference in terms of recovery (p>0.05), but patients who started DESL treatment within 1 month were more successful in clinical tests. Although the number of sessions was not found to have an effect on recovery (P<0.05), improvement was observed in both patient groups. It was found that the post treatment follow-up period was not statistically significant on recovery (p>0.05). It was observed that the recovery in patients who underwent orthognathic surgery was statistically less than in those who underwent other surgical procedures (p<0.05). When we evaluated the patients according to their ages, no statistically significant difference was found in terms of recovery. (p>0.05). Since young patients have a high regeneration capacity, we expected a better recovery in patients under 35 years of age, but the effect was not sufficient to create a statistical difference. According to the results of our study, DESL treatment, which is a noninvasive treatment method, can be an effective method that can be used in individuals with IAS damage.