Phototherapy is unable to exert beneficial effects on orthodontic tooth movement in rat molars.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the effects of irradiation lasers and light-emitting diode (LED) light on root resorption in rat molars during orthodontic tooth movement (OTM).

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Twenty-one 12-week-old Wistar male rats were divided into three groups: OTM only (control [CG]), OTM and LED irradiation (DG), and OTM and low laser irradiation therapy (LG). The distance between the first and second molars was used to evaluate the amount of tooth movement. The mesial surfaces of the distopalatal roots were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, and the area of the resorption was calculated.

RESULTS

Statistical analysis showed a decreased amount of tooth movement in the exposed DG or LG compared with CG, which was statistically significant (P = .031 and P = .004, respectively). However, when the DG and LG groups were compared, no statistically significant differences were found (P = .504). The root resorption areas were similar between CG and DG. However, statistically significant differences were found between LG and CG (P = .014) and LG and DG (P = .038).

CONCLUSIONS

Phototherapy did not enhance tooth movement, while infrared laser irradiation did increase root resorption.