Clinical Effects of Photobiomodulation, Corticosteroids, and Nonsteroidal Anti‐Inflammatory Drugs Following Third Molar Surgery: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials

First published online October 25, 2026. A review of 36 randomized trials found that PBM, anti-inflammatory medicines and corticosteroids may help different short-term problems after wisdom-tooth surgery. PBM results varied with the protocol, and the evidence did not support naming one approach as best.

Alpaca Zevallos ÉA, Nogueira LLT, Ferreira AJ, Guimarães CC, de Brito Andrade AF, de Santana IHG, de Medeiros Loureiro Lopes P, Shinohara EH, Paiva MDEB.
International Journal of Dentistry · Publication date: 2026-10-25
Added to site: 2026-10-26
DOI: 10.1155/ijod/5965550

First published online October 25, 2026. Added to Neurofeedback.com October 26, 2026.

Modalities

Photobiomodulation, Red light, Near-infrared light

Clinical focus

Third molar surgery, Postoperative pain, Edema and trismus

Population

People undergoing third molar surgery across included randomized trials

Sample

36 randomized trials with 1,838 participants: 13 corticosteroid, 11 NSAID, seven PBM and five direct or combined comparisons

Intervention / method

PRISMA 2020 review with unrestricted database searches, prospective PROSPERO registration and Cochrane RoB 2 assessment

Comparator

Placebo, active treatment and combination comparisons within the included randomized trials; few direct comparisons across treatment classes

Clinician summary

The review included 1,838 participants. Twenty-seven trials were rated low risk of bias, seven raised some concerns and two were high risk. Corticosteroids more often reduced edema and trismus, NSAIDs showed a more consistent pain signal, and seven PBM trials produced heterogeneous protocol-dependent findings. Heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis and a valid indirect hierarchy.

How to interpret the findings

Only a small number of trials directly compared treatment classes. Wavelengths, doses, surgical methods, comparators, endpoints and follow-up varied, so no meta-analysis or treatment ranking was justified. A favorable result from one PBM protocol cannot be generalized to another, and this review does not establish an optimal device, dose or clinical pathway.

Equipment and disclosures

The review covers heterogeneous PBM protocols and does not establish a superior commercial system. No equipment is attributed to BrainMaster.

Registered as PROSPERO CRD420251178943. The full text reports no specific funding and declares no conflicts of interest. It also states that ChatGPT was used only for language editing, not data generation, analysis, interpretation or conclusions. No indexed correction, retraction or expression-of-concern relation appeared in the retained records; this is a bounded check. AI-assisted full-text source review.

Related evidence

Compare findings from the same clinical area, including mixed results.

• Clinical outcomes of surgical laser interventions and adjunctive photobiomodulation in osseous crown lengthening: A systematic review · Positive with limitations