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Burning mouth syndrome patients treated with PBM + OCT report markedly better outcomes in pain and psychological distress than those receiving monotherapy or drug treatment.
According to the findings of a randomized controlled trial by Chenghui Lu et al., combining photobiomodulation (PBM) with oral cryotherapy (OCT) leads to substantially greater pain relief and reduction in anxiety symptoms in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS), compared to PBM or OCT alone, or standard drug therapy.
The study enrolled 128 patients with BMS. Volunteers were randomly assigned to get one of four treatments: PBM + OCT, PBM alone, OCT alone, or drug therapy, with 7 sessions administered over 7 weeks. Assessors were blinded to treatment assignments. At the end of the 7-week treatment period, the PBM + OCT group illustrated the highest overall response rate for pain reduction (81.25%). This group also achieved a nearly 5-fold greater reduction in visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores by the 12-week follow-up when compared to the drug therapy group (p < 0.0083).
In addition to pain relief, the combination therapy substantially boosted psychological well-being. Anxiety symptoms, measured via the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, exhibited a nearly 10-fold greater mean improvement in the PBM + OCT group than in the drug therapy group at 7 weeks (p < 0.0083). No severe adverse events were witnessed throughout the trial, highlighting the safety of the interventions.
These findings position PBM combined with OCT as a promising, non-pharmacologic treatment option for BMS—one that not only decreases oral burning pain but also addresses associated psychological distress.
BMC Medicine
Efficacy and safety of photobiomodulation combined with oral cryotherapy on oral mucosa pain in patients with burning mouth syndrome: a multi-institutional, randomized, controlled trial
Chenghui Lu et al.
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