Low-level laser treatment of burning mouth syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic disease that consists of pain or a burning sensation on the oral mucosa in the absence of clinical or laboratory signs. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of low-level laser (LLL) treatment with different wavelengths on patients with BMS to provide an optimized approach for clinical management. The PubMed and Wanfang databases were searched for studies in English or Chinese until September 30, 2018 using “burning mouth syndrome” and “laser” as keywords. Fifteen clinical trials were analyzed for data extraction. LLL treatment for BMS was effective. A LLL with a wavelength of 790 nm showed the greatest efficiency. However, the parameters in the trials, such as wavelength (650–980 nm), power (20–1,500 mW), energy density (0.53–200 J/cm²), time (10 s–15 min), sessions (1–20 s), and irradiated frequency, varied widely. More randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to draw a clear conclusion to provide evidence for optimized clinical management.