INTRODUCTION
Dental fear and phobia are highly prevalent in adults worldwide.
Generally, this fear can be linked to trauma and is directly associated
with dental care. Anxious patients have lower treatment adherence, which
can lead to oral health issues and reduced quality of life [1,2].
Pain is commonly cited as the primary reason for this fear, with local
anesthetic injection being the procedure most dreaded by patients
[3,4].
The pterygomandibular is a challenging technique. Some students and
novice professionals may struggle to identify anatomical landmarks
accurately. Additionally, anatomical variations of the mandibular
foramen can sometimes occur. Consequently, it is frequent to repeat or
supplement anesthesia, increasing patient fear.
Other techniques have been developed to alleviate pain puncture.
However, there is currently no standardized injection method or
established protocol [5,6,7].
Photobiomodulation is a technique that employs low-level lasers for
therapeutic purposes, serving as a complementary therapy across multiple
health specialties [8,9]. In dentistry, it can be applied to many
procedures, but its most effective effect is on pain management. This
technique is safe and lacks contraindications or adverse effects. Some
wavelengths were tested for this protocol [10,11,12,13,14,15],
however, the lack of evidence on this topic, highlights the need for
randomized and controlled clinical trials.
This study aims to provide a case report detailing the use of
photobiomodulation as an adjunct for pain control during
pterygomandibular puncture.