Immediate Pain Relief After Photodynamic Therapy in Oral Candidiasis: A Clinical Trial

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 post-treatment. 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) post-treatment. 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 non-surgical 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.