2005 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 67-74
Inflammation of many different aetiologies is a condition affecting almost 100% of all patients presenting at dental clinics, and the complete management of inflammation is often extremely important before any orthodontic surgery can be carried out. The lymphatic system is one of the body’s main lines of defence against inflammation, with the lymph nodes playing an extremely major role. laser therapy, or LLLT, has become much more common in dental offices, and is associated with pain attenuation, wound healing and anti-inflammatory properties. The last of these is mediated amongst others by the effect of LLLT on the lymphatic system, which has been shown to enhance lymphatic drainage concomitantly with increasing local blood flow to the treated area. Infected areas and those with viral contamination have been suggested as contraindications for laser therapy. The possibility of treating these difficult-to-manage entities through laser therapy-accelerated drainage of the affected lymphatics offers another approach. Although lymphatic drainage is frequently used in the clinical setting, its application in dentistry is less common than it should be. An illustrated review of the lymphatic system of the head and neck is presented, with relevance to the use of infrared diode laser therapy in inducing lymphatic drainage in the management of inflammation associated with acute infectious processes such as pericoronitis, endodontic abscesses, alveolitis and herpes. A case report is presented illustrating the success of this therapeutic approach for labial herpes simplex. Infrared diode laser therapy-mediated lymphatic drainage offers an interesting and efficacious approach in the management of infectious and contaminated areas, without actually irradiating the areas themselves.
