Effect of Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) on Rapid Palatal Expansion: A randomized Clinical-controlled Trial

Background: Maxillary transverse deficiency treatment during puberty is one of the main orthopedic treatments performed in an orthodontic clinic. The aim of any orthopedic maxillary expander is to increase the skeletal effect with limit the side effects on the dentition. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been used in orthodontics to accelerate tooth movement. The purpose of this study was to study the effect of LLLT on the rate of bone-borne maxillary expansion. Methodology: A sample of 24 female patients with transverse maxillary deficiency and bilateral posterior crossbite (age range 10-13 years old) were included in this study. The sample was divided into two groups: Group I: Bone-bone palatal expansion only and Group II: Bone-borne palatal expansion with LLLT. During the 15 days of active palatal expansion, a digital gauge was used to measure the midline diastema, inter-canine, inter-premolar and inter-molar width every day. The results were then used to compare between the two groups in order to study the effect of LLLT on the rate of expansion. Results: A midline diastema started to appear within the 7th to 10th day of expansion. A statistically significant increase was noticed in the inter-canine and inter-premolar width in the first and third day of expansion. Conclusion: Low-level laser therapy caused a significant increase in the rate of inter-canine and inter-premolar width on the first and third day of the expansion phase.