Laser therapy can reduce pain after wisdom teeth removal

An interesting article titled “Extraoral low-level laser therapy can decrease pain but not edema and trismus after surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial,” appearing in BMC Oral Health is written by Ehsan Momeni and et. al. (September 20, 2022, Vol. 22, 417). The article seeks to explore the impact of using a low-level diode laser on pain, swelling (edema), and jaw opening (trismus) following surgery to remove impacted lower wisdom teeth. This topic has been covered before on this site see for example the articles Laser Therapy to Reduce Pain and Improve Healing After Tooth Removal and Using Laser Therapy after Tooth Extraction to Improve Wound Healing. In the article the authors explore laser therapy as a possible alternative to techniques such as medication, cryotherapy, and surgical closure techniques to minizime complications, pain, and … Read more

Does Bromelain Impact Pain, Swelling, and Mouth Opening after Wisdom Teeth Surgery?

An interesting article titled “Oral Bromelain for the Control of Facial Swelling, Trismus, and Pain After Mandibular Third Molar Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery written by Liu et al. The article seeks to explore if bromelain reduces pain and swelling and improves mouth opening after wisdom teeth removal. Bromelain is believed to decrease swelling by returning interstitial fluid and inflammatory component cells into the bloodstream and provide an anti-inflammatory effect by decreasing pain mediators such as prostaglandin E2 and substance P. Bromelain provides for systemic proteolytic enzyme therapy and is a mixture of proteolytic enzymes found in pineapple plants. The authors state a few articles in the past have explored using bromelain after wisdom teeth removal but with inconsistent results. For example one study showed bromelain … Read more