title: Influence of postoperative low-level laser therapy on the osseointegration of self-tapping implants in the posterior maxilla: a 6-week split-mouth clinical study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been proven to stimulate bone repair, affecting cellular proliferation, differentiation and adhesion, and has shown a potential to reduce the healing time following implant placement. The aim of this clinical study was to investigate the influence of postoperative LLLT osseointegration and early success of self-tapping implants placed into low-density bone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Following the split-mouth design, self-tapping implants n = 44) were inserted in the posterior maxilla of 12 patients. One jaw side randomly received LLLT (test group), while the other side was placebo (control group). For LLLT, a 637 nm gallium-aluminum-arsenide (GaAlAs) laser (Medicolaser 637, Technoline, Belgrade, Serbia) with an output power of 40 mW and continuous wave was used. Low-level laser treatment was performed immediately after the surgery and then repeated every day in the following 7 days. The total irradiation dose per treatment was 6.26 J/cm2 per implant. The study outcomes were: implant stability, alkaline-phosphatase (ALP) activity and early implant success rate. The follow-up took 6 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Irradiated implants achieved a higher stability compared with controls during the entire follow-up and the difference reached significance in the 5th postoperative week (paired t-test, p = 0.030). The difference in ALP activity between the groups was insignificant in any observation point (paired t-test, p > 0.05). The early implant success rate was 100%, regardless of LLLT usage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LLLT applied daily during the first postoperative week expressed no significant influence on the osseointegration of self-tapping implants placed into low density bone of the posterior maxilla. Placement of self-tapping macro-designed implants into low density bone could be a predictable therapeutic procedure with a high early success rate regardless of LLLT usage.
authors.forename: Borka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mandić
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lazić
authors.forename: Aleksa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marković
authors.forename: Bojan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mandić
authors.forename: Miška
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mandić
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Djinić
authors.forename: Biljana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Miličić
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000379:methods*; D015921:Dental Implants; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D028022:Low-Level Light Therapy; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants