By Dr. Grace Sun, 2023 Conference Committee Member

Comprehensive management of orofacial pain has traditionally been limited to western treatment modalities and healthy lifestyle choices, often relying on prescribed pharmaceuticals – but there are alternative treatment modality options that should be considered.

In November 2019, as a member of the editorial board of Photobiomodulation, Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, I was asked to write an editorial on the topic of Photobiomodulation Treatment (PBMT) as a possible answer to the opioid crisis. (1) I started using PBMT in my small-town dental practice in 1993 and have eliminated using post-operative opioid prescriptions ever since. In today’s world, you can’t open any newspaper without finding an article on the opioid crisis and so many of addictions started with people being prescribed opiates after dental treatments. In this article, I will discuss the problem and show how PBMT can be a big part of the solution.

By Gail S. Siminovsky, CAE

This October, the Academy of Laser Dentistry (ALD) is featuring conversations with the world’s top experts on Improving Patient Care & Wellbeing Using Light Therapy.  Healing with Light presents the latest scientific evidence, and clinical best practices, for using photo-bio-modulation (PBM) light therapy in everyday patient care.  Chiropractors, physical therapists, myofunctional therapists, and nurses use PBM for pain management, wound healing, and reducing inflammation.  Veterinarians use PBM to treat our pets and large animals.  Research on PBM’s role in reducing opioid use, treating side-effects of cancer therapy, addressing respiratory complications arising from COVID-19, and reversing brain trauma and macular degeneration are ongoing.