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Sjogren’s syndrome: Use of a low-level laser for treatment of xerostomia

Thays Almeida Alfaya, Patricia Arriaga Carvalho, Patricia Nivoloni Tannure, Mirian Pereira Fortuna Kalil, Cristiane Cabral dos Santos Spedini, Camila Haddad Leal de Godoy, Sandra Kalil Bussadori

Med Sci Tech 2012; 53(4): CR197-200

ID: 883658

Background:    Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) is a systemic auto-immune chronic inflammatory disease that affects the exocrine glands, especially the lacrimal and salivary glands.
    Case Report:    This paper reports the case of a 62-year-old female patient with a diagnosis of Sjogren’s syndrome confirmed by the criteria of the European Study Group on Sjogren’s syndrome. The patient used artificial saliva and complained of xerostomia and orofacial pain (8 on the pain scale) with no oral manifestations (eg, dental caries, secondary candidiasis, or periodontal disease). Non-stimulated sialometry revealed salivary flow of 0.9 ml/15 min. Low-level laser was administered bilaterally in the region of the parotid and submandibular glands. Forty sessions were performed using 4 J/cm2, with a 48-hour interval between sessions. At the end of the treatment, there was a significant improvement in pain symptoms (0 on the pain scale) and the results of the sialometry (2.1 ml/15 min). The patient is currently followed up every 30 days, with stabilization in salivary volume and no complaints of facial pain.
    Conclusions:    Low-level laser therapy proved to be an effective treatment in the present case of SS, leading to an increase in salivary flow and the alleviation of orofacial pain.

Keywords: low-level laser therapy, Xerostomia, Sjogren's Syndrome

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