Recently,
photodynamic therapy (
PDT) has been suggested as a new treatment option that is free from side effects for erosive-atrophic
oral lichen planus (OLP). The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of
toluidine blue-mediated
photodynamic therapy (TB-
PDT) with local
corticosteroids on treatment of erosive-atrophic OLP. In this randomized clinical trial, 25 patients with keratotic-atrophic-erosive
oral lichen planus were allocated randomly into two groups. Group 1 (experimental): topical application of
toluidine blue with micropipette was applied, and after 10 min, the patients were treated with a 630-nm
GaAlAs laser (power density: 10 mW/cm(2)) during two visits. Group 2 (control) used mouthwash diluted with
dexamethasone (tab 0/5 in 5 ml water) for 5 min, and then, it was spat out, and after 30 min, the mouth was rinsed with 30 drops of
nystatin 100,000 units for 5 min and again spat out. Demographic data, type, and severity of the lesions and
pain were recorded before and
after treatment and then at the 1-month follow-up visit. Response rate was defined based on changes in intensity of the lesions and
pain. In the experimental and control groups, sign scores of changes significantly reduced
after treatment respectively (p = 0.021) and (p = 0.002), but between the two groups, no significant difference was observed (p = 0.72). In the experimental (p = 0.005) and control groups (p = 0.001), the intensity of lesions significantly reduced
after treatment and there was a significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.001). The mean amount of improvement in
pain was significantly greater in the control group compared with the experimental group (p < 0.001) (α = 0.05). Our study showed that TB-
PDT with
laser was effective in the management of OLP.