Comparison of Anti-Microbial Effects of Low-Level Laser Irradiation and Microwave Diathermy on Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria in an In Vitro Model.
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of low-level laser therapy and continuous microwave diathermy on the growth of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and to establish their efficacy as an alternative therapeutic modality.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Laser fluence of 13 Joules (J)/cm2, 18 J/cm2 and 30 J/cm2 were used against several bacterial strains. Microwave dosages of 25, 50 and 100 watts (W) were used, respectively.


RESULTS
A significant difference between the three groups was observed using repeated analysis of variance (RANOVA) (F value: 0.74, and p value: 0.001). The Greenhouse-Geisser correction (GG) revealed significant results for laser irradiation alone. However, effect size calculation showed effects with microwave diathermy as well as laser fluence.


CONCLUSIONS
Low-level laser therapy appears to be an effective modality of treatment when compared with continuous microwave diathermy on the Gram-negative and the Gram-positive bacterial strains tested. Microwave diathermy revealed large and medium effects on the bacterial cell counts with dominant effects on Gram-negative strains.
['Dixit|Snehil|S|', 'Ahmad|Irfan|I|', 'Hakami|Abdulrahim|A|', 'Gular|Kumar|K|', 'Tedla|Jaya Shanker|JS|', 'Abohashrh|Mohammed|M|']
D000704:Analysis of Variance D000890:Anti-Infective Agents D003972:Diathermy D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria D006801:Humans D028022:Low-Level Light Therapy
microwave diathermy low-level laser therapy bacterial culture electrotherapy gram stain