Adjunctive role of photobiomodulation in facilitating orthodontic mini-implants use: A systematic review

Introduction: This study aims to review the impact of photobiomodulation after placement of orthodontic miniscrews on its secondary stability, success rate, initial inflammatory response, and bone formation around it. Material and methods: An electronic search was conducted in MEDLINE (NCBI PubMed and PMC), EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from January 1990 to August 2020, limited to English language publications. Published studies that investigated the effect of photobiomodulation following placement of miniscrews on its stability, success rate, inflammatory response, and bone formation were found. Data were summarized as follows: 1) author and year of publication; 2) Study type; 3) Factors that were evaluated; 4) Sample type and size; 5) Placement site; 6) Mini-implant type and size; 7) Laser type; 8) Laser parameters; 9) Application method; 10) Follow up period; 11) Measurement methods; 12) results of the study. Results and discussion: 9 studies assessed the effect of photobiomodulation on the secondary stability of mini-implants and most of them (7 of 9 articles) reported a positive impact of photobiomodulation on secondary stability. Four studies reported that photobiomodulation enhances bone formation, osseointegration, and bone to implant contact around miniscrews. Four studies were assessed the effect of photobiomodoulation on the success rate of miniscrews. Four studies evaluated the effects of photobiomodulation on the inflammatory response of tissues around miniscrews. Two studies assessed the role photobiomodulation on pain level post insertion of MIs. Evidence-based decision-making according to these studies is difficult due to contradictory findings and there is a need for more controlled and long-term studies.