Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy and Hyaluronic Acid After Free Gingival Graft

The goal of this randomized clinical trial was to learn whether low-level laser therapy or hyaluronic acid application improves healing after free gingival graft surgery in adults with insufficient keratinized gingival tissue in the mandibular lower teeth region.

The main questions it aimed to answer were:

• Do low-level laser therapy and hyaluronic acid application reduce shrinkage of the gingival graft?
• Do these treatments reduce postoperative pain and pain medication use and improve wound healing, clinical outcomes, appearance, and oral health-related quality of life?

Researchers compared three groups: free gingival graft surgery alone, free gingival graft surgery with low-level laser therapy and free gingival graft surgery with hyaluronic acid application.

Participants underwent free gingival graft surgery and were followed for six months. During follow-up, researchers measured graft size and shrinkage, periodontal clinical measurements, pain at the donor and recipient sites, pain medication use, wound healing, esthetic outcomes, and oral health-related quality of life.