Photobiomodulation Enhances the Healing of Postextraction Alveolar Sockets: A Randomized Clinical Trial With Histomorphometric Analysis and Immunohistochemistry

Purpose Wound healing of postextraction sockets is a complex process that permits to reach the bone reformation in about 3 months, and that could be characterized by the presence of some complications, mainly dependent on the duration of the surgery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of photobiomodulation (PBMT) on the healing processes of mucosa overlying postextraction alveolus and on related complications. Methods Twenty systemically healthy patients who needed to extract both lower third molars were selected in a private clinic and included in this prospective split-mouth randomized clinical trial. Inclusion criteria were no smokers subjects with the necessity to extract both lower third molars with surgeries overlapping for duration and difficulty. A computer-based randomization procedure was permitted to choose the side, subject to PBMT, by means of a neodymium-doped YAG (Nd: YAG) laser (test) and controls. Both surgeries were performed by the same operator with a gap of 40 days. Twenty-two days after each surgery, a biopsy in correspondence to the alveolar mucosa of the socket was obtained from both sites and observed with an optical microscope and analyzed with histomorphometric analysis and immunohistochemistry. Results Each of the 20 participants included in this study (11 women and 9 men, nonsmokers, mean age 16 years in the range of 15 to 17 years) were subjected to the extraction of both lower third molars, and a side was treated as control, the other, as the test. The histomorphometric analysis and immunohistochemistry showed that the tested sites, contrary to controls, were characterized by a lower presence of inflammatory cells, a more mature epithelium and myofibroblasts incorporated in a network of fibers parallel to the basal membrane, with little positivity to alpha-SMA antibodies and anti-myosin but positivity to anti-desmin. Conclusions In conclusion, PBMT accelerates the healing process of postextraction alveolus after third molar extraction.