Immediate effects of photobiomodulation on maximum tongue pressure: a randomized clinical study.
Ester Florens Guerra Gouvêa, Lorena Moreira Marra, Vanessa Mouffron Novaes Alves and 3 others
PMID 40008779WHAT IT FOUND
Infrared laser applied to the tongue did not increase maximum tongue pressure immediately after treatment in healthy adults.
Neither 4 J nor 7 J doses changed pressure compared to baseline. There is no evidence that photobiomodulation acutely improves tongue strength.
Key findings
01There was no significant difference in maximum anterior or posterior tongue pressure before and after irradiation in any group.
02The study included 72 adults randomly allocated into four groups of 18 participants each.
03This was the first study to investigate the effects of photobiomodulation on tongue muscle performance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only measured immediate effects; it did not assess whether repeated treatments or longer follow-up periods might produce different results. The participants were healthy young adults, so the findings may not apply to patients with existing tongue weakness or pathology. The authors note that the dosimetry (energy per point) or the number of irradiated points might not have been optimal for the specific muscle structure of the tongue.
Declared interests
Nothing to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that photobiomodulation is ineffective for tongue therapy based solely on this study. This trial only tested immediate effects of a single session in healthy adults; it does not rule out benefits from repeated sessions, different dosages, or effects on patients with clinical tongue weakness.