Harazaki 1997.

Methods	Trial design: RCT, 3 groups Location: Department of Orthodontics, Tokyo Dental College, Japan Number of centres: 1
Participants	SELECTION CRITERIA • Receiving edgewise orthodontic therapy • Undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed upper and lower appliances Participants: 84 (27 male, 57 female) Number randomised: 84 (Group 1: 44 ; Group 2: 20; Group 3: 20) Number evaluated: 84 (Group 1: 44 ; Group 2: 20; Group 3: 20) Age range: 11 years to 34 years
Interventions	INTERVENTION: Either a laser irradiation group receiving laser therapy for 30 seconds at the apical region of each tooth from a labial or lingual direction (Group 2) or a blind irradiation group receiving the same therapy without irradiation (Group 3) CONTROL: No irradiation (Group 1)|
Outcomes	Questionnaire involving 5 questions exploring the timing at which the pain commenced, when pain peaked and abated, and exploring the nature and severity of the discomfort
Notes	We could not extract any usable data from this paper
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not mentioned
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not mentioned
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	A blind irradiation placebo group was included in the study
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Participants were blinded in groups 1 and 2
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No drop‐outs
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Study protocol not available, but outcomes mentioned in the methods section appeared to have been reported
Other bias	Unclear risk	Not enough detail provided to allow an assessment