Figure 3.

Profile of each study, as well as data referring to laser application

First author and year of publication	Points of application	Type of laser/manufacturer/λ	Energy Density (ED)	Power Density (PD)	Application time	Frequency and Nº of sessions	Assessments - follow up	Results
1. Kulekciouglu, et al.20 (2003)	Joint and/or muscle	AsGa/Elettronica Pagani/904 nm	3 J/cm2	17 mW		15 sessions	To the end of treatment and after 30 days from the last application	Reduction of pain at end of treatment and for 1 month after end of treatment for both groups.
2. Venancio, et al.37 (2005)	Joint	AsGaAl/Twin laser/780 nm	6.3 J/cm2	30 mW	10 s	6 sessions: 2x/week for 3 consecutive weeks	At 15, 30, and 60 days after the end of treatment	Reduction of pain in the 2 groups. There was no difference between them and between the periods observed.
3. Çetiner, et al.9 (2006)	Joint and muscle	AsGaAl/Medictinedic/830 nm	7 J/cm2	?	162 s	10 sessions: 5x/week for 2 weeks	To the end of treatment and after 30 days from the last application	Reduction of pain in the laser group in relation to the placebo. There was no significant difference between the values obtained after the last session and 1 month after.
4. Fikácková, et al.16 (2007)	Joint and/or muscle	AsGaAl/BTL Beautyline Technology/830 nm	10 J/cm2 and 15 J/cm2	400 mW	?	10 sessions in 1 month	Only to the end of treatment	Reduction of the pain in the laser group in relation to the placebo with both dosages. There was no signficant difference between the energy densities in the test group.
5. León, et al.23 (2007)	Acupuncture points: gallbladder and stomach + TMJ	AsGaAl/?/?	0.9 J/cm2	?	300 s	Daily, for 10 days	5th and 10th day of treatment	Laser group had greater remission of symptoms in relation to the drug group. 6 to 10 applications were necessary for pain relief.
6. Mazzetto, et al.26 (2007)	Joint only/1 point	AsGaAl/Twin laser - MM Optics/780 nm	89.7 J/cm2	70 mW	10 s	8 sessions: 2x/week for 4 weeks	After the 4th application, after the 8th application, and after 30 days from the last application	Reduction of pain in the laser group in relation to the placebo. Less sensitivity to palpation after the 8th application.
7. Cunha, et al.11 (2008)	Joint and/or muscle	AsGaAl/Biolux laser - Bio Art/830 nm	100 J/cm2	500 mW	20 s	4 sessions: 1x/week for 4 consecutive weeks	Only to the end of treatment	Reduction of pain in the 2 groups. There was no difference between the groups.
8. Carrasco, et al.7 (2008)	Joint 1 point	AsGaAl/Twin laser - MM Optics/780 nm	105 J/cm2	70 mW	60 s	8 sessions: 2x/week for 4 weeks	After the 8th application and after 30 days from the last application	Reduction of pain in the laser group. Less symptoms and greater mastigatory efficiency after the 8th laser session.
9. Lassemi, et al.21 (2008)	Joint and/or muscle	AsGa/AZOR-2K/980 nm	2 J: TMJ 1.5 J: musc.	?	60 s	2 sessions in 1 week	After 2 days, after 4 days, at 6 months, and at 12 months	Reduction of pain on the 4th day after the treatment in the laser group. Results (s.s.) for both pain and clicking without recurrence for 2 years.
10. Emshoff, et al.14 (2008)	Joint	HeNe/Helbo Medizintechnik/632.8 nm	1.5 J/cm2	30 mw	120 s	20 sessions: 2 to 3x/week for 8 weeks	In the 2nd, in the 4th, and in the 8th weeks after the first application	In the 8th week both groups presented pain reduction in the TMJ during mandibular function. Differences between the 2 groups were not very evident.
11. Shirani, et al.36 (2009)	Muscle	InGaAlP/AZOR-2K/660 nm	6.2 J/cm2	17.3 mW	360 s	6 sessions: 2x/week for 3 weeks	To the end of treatment, 1 week after, and on the day of complete relief from pain during the 3 weeks of treatment	Reduction of pain in both groups. The laser group was more effective. One month after end of treatment, 1 patient had recurrence of pain.
		AsGa/AZOR-2K/890 nm	1 J/cm2	9.8 mW	600 s
12. Carvalho, et al.8 (2010)	Joint and/or muscle	? /Biowave, Kondortech/660 nm + ? /Twin Flex, MM Optics/780 nm, 790 nm, or 830 nm	1 to 2 J/cm2	30 to 40 mW	Indicated by the equip. according to ED and PD	12 sessions: 2x/week for 6 weeks	Only to the end of treatment	After the treatment, 64% of the patients were asymptomatic or improved. In the asymptomatic patients, it was observed that the association of λ was statistically significant.
			14.2±6.8 J/cm2	40 to 50 mw
13. Santos, et al.35 (2010)	Joint and/or muscle	AsGaAl/DMC/830 nm	80 J/cm2	40 mW	16 s	1 session only	1 week after the application	There was significant reduction of pain intensity in the patients of the laser group, and in the placebo there was no reduction.
14. Venezian, et al.38 (2010)	Muscle	AsGaAl/Twin laser - MM Optics/780 nm	25 J/cm2	50 mW	20 s	8 sessions: 2x/week for 4 weeks	To the end of treatment and after 30 days from the last application	There was no difference in the electromyography between the groups before and after laser. Only the laser group showed reduction of pain for all muscle palpations. There was no difference between the laser and placebo groups. In the laser group 25 J/cm2, the reduction of pain lasted for 30 days after the end of treatment. In the group 60 J/cm2, the pain returned after 30 days.
			60 J/cm2	60 mW	40 s