Another very interesting study just came out in Dec 2025, on the lower third molar (wisdom teeth) extraction, and light therapy and/or collagen for recovery. You can read the full study HERE.
We've also added the latest articles by Alex and others of the team in this newsletter!
NEW Dec 2025 Study: Laser Therapy And/Or Collagen For Recovering From Wisdom Teeth Extraction
So, wisdom tooth extraction is quite serious. Most people don't like the procedure, especially if the anesthesia isn't sufficient. And, even with anesthesia, the procedure, you probably don't look forward to needles going into the surrounding tissue.
(Bart of Light Therapy Insiders has written about using light therapy to make anesthetic injections much more bearable in the past, reducing pain scores by up to 20-40%!)
The study setup here was quite nice, as there were four different groups:
- A control group that didn't receive any additional therapy
- A collagen-only group
- A laser-only group
- And a collagen plus lasers group
That way you can easily distinguish between the effects of different therapies. Moreover, the researchers measured the following outcomes:
- Pain (measured with the "VAS scale", with a self-reported rating between 0 and 10)
- Swelling
- Spasms in the mouth and adjacent muscles, that prevent you from opening the mouth fully
- Healing of the tissue around the extraction (mucosal)
- And some secondary outcomes, such as bleeding, inflammatory markers, and more.
A total of 120 participants were included, and the combination of the lasers and collagen group's outcome was superior to the other three groups. All groups were followed for 7 days after the wisdom tooth extraction, and different measurements were taken at different days (more on that in a second!)
In this study, the researchers used Er:YAG (2,940 nm) and Nd:YAG lasers (1,064 nm). Now, what's maybe harder to conceive for people is that the 2,940 nm laser is primarily used for surgical purposes, here, for making incisions into the soft tissue. You can see that incision being made in Figure 1 below, in picture B and C:
Next up, the 1,064 nm laser is used in picture F, G, H, and I above for healing purposes of different tissues, including the wound area but also the jaw. There's quite a lot of other stuff happening too as far as surgical procedures go.
Also, for the groups receiving the collagen, that substance was placed in the socket of the extracted molar. So it's not an oral collagen supplement but instead the collagen is locally placed in the socket of the extracted tooth.
Next up, below you can see the amounts of pain each group experienced at 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days after surgery:
As you can see, the pain levels in the combined group (collagen + lasers) is by far the lowest. The combined group especially outperforms all other groups 1 and 3 days after surgery, but not at day 7 as all pain has disappeared for all groups at that point.
Swelling was also lower in the combined collagen+laser group, which you can see below (Grade I is the best outcome):
Grade II is moderate swelling, and Grade III is quite severe swelling, and both outcomes are absent in the combined collagen+laser group. So overall, here, the laser and collagen combination group does best once again. The picture above shows the swelling 3 days after the sugergy.
And, spasms while opening the mouth? Once again, the collagen+laser group outperforms the other groups once again:
The collagen+laser group does best especially at day 1 and day 7, post-surgery. Then, there's the healing process itself, which once again is best in the combined collagen+laser group:
As you can see, the combined group has by far the most people in the "good healing" category", and only 1 person in the "poor healing" category. The picture above shows the healing at day 3 post-surgery, but day 7 post-sugery shows a similar trend.
For bleeding, bone inflammation, and inflammatory biomarkers and some other outcomes, the collagen+laser group also does best. Just check the full article HERE if you want more details on those outcomes. But, so far, so good! Here's the conclusion of the researchers on this outcome:
"The combined application of [different lasers] with adjunctive collagen in impacted third-molar surgery reduces postoperative complications—including pain, bleeding, facial swelling, [difficulty opening the mouth], and [local hardening of the skin]—facilitates socket healing, and improves postoperative quality of life, supporting broader clinical adoption. Moreover, this regimen lowers local levels of [inflammatory biomarkers such as] TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 at the surgical site, offering clinically relevant evidence to inform practice."
That's all great! But the study isn't perfect and we need followups. Also, there are lots of things not described in detail, such as the treatment protocol with the light therapy, for instance. But it is nonetheless a great development...
Wish to know more about this topic? Check the guide on the 20 most important applications of light therapy for dentistry below:
Bart Wolbers
Also, check out the incredible interview with Prof Dr Samir Namour, on the future applications of light therapy in dentistry, that are growing extremely rapidly and arguably expontentially:
Bart Wolbers
Here Are Our Latest Light Therapy Insiders' Articles:
Every single article that we've published recently - you can find the videos in the article itself:
- 9 Mistakes To Avoid When Buying A Red Light Therapy Mask - here's all you need to know about selecting the best red light therapy mask. Many people make either one or multiple of these mistakes and therefore end up with a product they regret buying, or that's not working as well as it should
- New LED Masks 2025: CurrentBody, Theraglo, Dr Rajani – First Look - Alex explores three new LED masks that have entered the market in 2025. We'll keep updating you about new options as they come along. Alex explains the benefits and downsides of these three recently released masks...
- Inia Glow Red Light Therapy LED Mask Review: The Near-Perfect Budget Mask With One Big Caveat - This mask apparantly has it all, but it's got one tragic flaw
- Red Light Therapy For Thyroid Health: The Incredible Science! - This is an older article by Bart on using red light therapy for thyroid health. You can have life-changing effects by using red light therapy in this case, especially if you're hit by hypothyroidism. Bart gives exact treatment protocols and device recommendations
Also, Check Out Some Of Our Other Content:
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