Role of laser or photodynamic therapy in treatment of denture stomatitis: A systematic review

Denture stomatitis (DS) is an inflammatory oral lesion that occurs mostly in elderly denture wearers and that can negatively affect their quality of life. The conventional treatment plan for DS is topical or systemic fungicidal drug therapy, which are not without side effects. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of using low-level laser therapy (LLLT) or photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of DS by reviewing high-quality published articles. The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Embase, and Ovid databases were searched using appropriate key words. Related titles and abstracts published up to May 2017 were screened and selected based on defined inclusion criteria. The full texts of all selected articles were read, and citation lists were checked for missing references. All randomized controlled trials (RCT) were subjected to quality assessments. A total of 760 articles were included in the study after the initial search. Six studies were selected for assessment of eligibility, and 4 of them were sufficiently reliable in methodology and randomization to be included in the study. The applied wavelength varied from 455 nm to 830 nm. Also, the highest energy patients were exposed to was 122 J/cm2, and the lowest was 1 J/cm2. Exposure times ranged from 10 seconds to 26 minutes in the reviewed studies. Based on the available RCTs, LLLT has a significant role in the clinical treatment of DS. However, the results of PDT were similar to those of conventional antifungal therapies.