Introduction: The temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) have been identified as the most important cause of painin the facial region. The low level laser therapy (LLLT) has demonstrated to have an analgesic, anti-inflammatoryand biostimulating effects. The LLLT is a noninvasive, quick and safe, non-pharmaceutical intervention that maybe beneficial for patients with TMDs. However the clinical efficiency of LLLT in the treatment of this kind ofdisorders is controversial.Objectives: Literature review in reference to the use of LLLT in the treatment of TMDs, considering the scientificevidence level of the published studies.Material and Methods:AMEDLINE and COCHRANE database search was made for articles. The keywordsused were "temporomandibular disorders" and "low level laser therapy" or "phototherapy" and by means of theBoolean operator "AND". The search provided a bank of 35 articles, and 16 relevant articles were selected to thisreview. These articles were critically analyzed and classified according to their level of scientific evidence. Thisanalysis produced 3 literature review articles and 13 are clinical trials. The SORT criteria (Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy) was used to classify the articles.Results: Only one article presented an evidence level 1, twelve presented an evidence level 2, and three presented an evidence level 3. According to the principle of evidence-based dentistry, currently there is a scientific evidencelevel B in favor of using LLLT for treatment of TMDs.Discussion and conclusions: Publications on the use of LLLT for treatment of TMDs are limited making difficult tocompare the different studies due to the great variability of the studied variables and the selected laser parameters.The great majority of the studies concluded that the results should be taken with caution due to the methodologicallimitations.
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