Title

Comparative clinical efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy and topical corticosteroids for oral lichen planus

Authors

Rasakatla Hemanth^1,*, Madarapu Tejasvi¹, Eragattapu Sulochana¹, Pokkula Samskruthi¹, Javeria Sana¹, Raja Joanna¹ & Pratik Surana²

Affiliation

¹Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Government Dental College & Hospital, Hyderabad, India; ²Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Maitri College of Dentistry and Research Centre, Durg, Chhattisgarh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Rasakatla Hemanth - E-mail: hemanthhemu330.hh@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8686739287
Madarapu Tejasvi - E-mail: madaraputeja18@gmail.com; Phone: +91 7780755395
Eragattapu Sulochana - E-mail: eragttapusulochana@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8074890662
Pokkula Samskruthi - E-mail: pokkulasamskruthi05@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9502158304
Javeria Sana - E-mail: javeriasana91@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9676405205
Raja Joanna - E-mail: joannaraja@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9741974691
Pratik Surana - E-mail: suranadrpratik@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8871310111

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received March 1, 2026; Revised March 31, 2026; Accepted March 31, 2026, Published March 31, 2026

Abstract

Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disorder impacting quality of life; this randomized, single-blind trial compared photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) versus topical corticosteroids (TCS) for symptomatic OLP. Sixty patients received PBMT (660 nm, 4 J/cm², thrice weekly) or 0.1% triamcinolone acetonide (thrice daily) for 4 weeks, with assessments at baseline, weeks 2, 4 and 8. At week 4, PBMT showed superior pain reduction (VAS: 4.2±0.8 vs. 3.1±0.9, p=0.002), greater lesion severity improvement (TSS reduction: 2.8±0.7 vs. 2.1±0.8, p=0.005) and higher clinical response (70% vs. 50%, p=0.031). PBMT maintained pain reduction advantage at week 8 (p=0.018) with no adverse events, while 10% of TCS patients reported mild irritation. Thus, PBMT demonstrates superior efficacy and safety over TCS for OLP management.

Keywords

Oral Lichen Planus (OLP), photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT), topical corticosteroids (TCS), randomized controlled trial, pain reduction, lesion severity, safety profile

Citation

Hamanth et al. Bioinformation 22(3): 1522-1527 (2026)

Edited by

Rashmi Laddha

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.