Immediate Pain Relief After Photodynamic Therapy in Oral Candidiasis: A Clinical Trial
Zarmina Ehtesham, Sharjeel Chaudhry, Samueel Zubair, Sultan Mehmood
Objective: Fungal infection of the oral mucosa that appears in the oral cavity is known as oral
candidiasis and the patients experience a fair amount of pain and discomfort. The objective of this
article is to evaluate the efficiency of photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment as a pain management
approach in patients with oral candidiasis.
Methods: The study was a clinical trial where 20 patients who had oral candidiasis were involved.
Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the PDT group (n=10) or the placebo group
(n=10). In the PDT group, PDT was done on the lesions of the oral mucosa using a photosensitizer
(methylene blue) and red light at wavelengths of 630-660 nm for 5-10 minutes. The placebo group
underwent a similar process as the experimental group but did not use the photosensitizing agent and
activation light. Pain intensity was measured using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at five-time points:
baseline (before treatment), immediately post-treatment, and at 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours posttreatment. The first study variable was the VAS scores at different post-treatment intervals compared to
baseline readings.
Results: At baseline, the mean VAS scores were comparable between the PDT group (7.5 ± 1.2) and the
placebo group (7.6 ± 1.1). Immediately post-treatment, the PDT group reported a significant reduction
in pain (4.2 ± 1.5) compared to the placebo group (7.3 ± 1.2), with a p-value of <0.001. This significant
difference in pain relief persisted at all subsequent time points: 30 minutes (3.8 ± 1.6 vs. 7.0 ± 1.3,
p<0.001), 1 hour (3.5 ± 1.7 vs. 6.8 ± 1.4, p<0.001), and 2 hours (3.2 ± 1.8 vs. 6.5 ± 1.5, p<0.001) posttreatment.
Conclusion: This research also established that PDT does provide significant enhancements in the
initial reduction of pain in oral candidiasis patients. Therefore, PDT can be a safe and efficient nonsurgical approach to managing oral candidiasis, offering prompt relief from pain and enhancing the
patient’s quality of life. Further studies with relatively larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods
should be done to substantiate these observations and assess PDT's effects on oral candidiasis in the
long run.
