Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis Management in Children Using Diode Laser 980 Nanometer Versus Hyaluronic Acid Gel (RCT) (RCT)

November 3, 2026 updated by: Mohamed Farouk Rashed, National Research Centre, Egypt

Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis Management in Children Using Diode Laser 980 Nanometer Versus Hyaluronic Acid Gel: A Randomized Controlled Study

Thirty children with recurrent apthous ulcer will be divided into 3 groups of different treatment modalities to assess their effect on pain, ulcer size, healing and postoperative pain

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Enrolled children will be randomly allocated to three groups of ten individuals each:

Group one: patients will receive laser therapy with diode laser 980 nm using a 200 μm fiber optic at a distance of 1-3 mm, with no tissue contact.

Group two: patients will use hyaluronic acid (Gengigel gel) 4 times daily. Group three: patients will receive oral hygiene instructions by avoiding spicy food, cold and hot drinks (control group).

Recruitment of subjects Patients with clinically diagnosed RAS of both sexes with age range between 10-14 years old will be selected from the outpatient clinics of the National Research Centre.

Assessment:

A) Assessment of the pain related to the ulcer:

A visual analogue scale (VAS) will be used consisting of a 10-cm horizontal line starting with a pole of no pain to reach the end pole presenting the unbearable pain. Individuals will be requested to mark the point on the horizontal line that best signifies their pain level (Greenberg et al., 2003).

B) Assessment of the ulcer sizes:

The ulcer size will be measured by a calibrated periodontal probe, the two dimensions will be calculated to represent the cross-sectional areas of the lesion (Legeret and Furlano, 2021).p13

C) Assessment healing by the effectiveness indices (EI) of healing:

The effectiveness indices (EI) of the pain improvement and ulcer size will be analyzed with a formula EI = [(V1 - V4 or V6) ÷ V1] × 100 %] where V4 and V6 referrs to the values which will be measured at day 4 visit and day 6 visit, while V1 referred to the baseline value.

The effectiveness indices will be evaluated on a 4-Rank scale: (Liu et al., 2006).

  • Rank (1): Heal: EI ≥ 95%.
  • Rank (2): Marked improvement: El < 95%, but ≥ 70%.
  • Rank (3): Moderate improvement: EI < 70%, but ≥ 30%.
  • Rank (4): No improvement: EI < 30%.

D) Assessment of postoperative pain:

A survey questionnaire with ordinal scales will be filled by asking the children at each visit concerning their subjective experience of eating, drinking, and brushing teeth. there will be 4 response alternatives (no, slight, moderate, and severe difficulties)

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

10 years to 14 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Children should be willing to participate in the study.
  2. Children should have a history of recurrent apthous stomatitis for at least two years with a frequency of at least one outbreak every two months
  3. Each ulcer had well defined margin for a period less than two days in child complained from pain.
  4. Each ulcer was in applicable area for easy management.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients had history of using topical or systemic medication for management of recurrent apthous stomatitis, such as corticosteroid therapy, antibiotics or analgesics during the previous month.
  2. Patient with special syndrome & immunological disease where RAS is one of its clinical presentations.
  3. Patient with allergic conditions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: laser therapy

diode laser 980 nm using a 200 μm fiber optic at a distance of 1-3 mm, with no tissue contact.
Device: laser therapy

Diode laser 980 nm using a 200 μm fiber optic at a distance of 1-3 mm, with no tissue contact.
Experimental: Hyaluronic acid group

Hyaluronic acid (Gengigel gel) 4 times daily.
Drug: Hyaluronic acid group

Hyaluronic acid (Gengigel gel) 4 times daily.
Experimental: Negative control group

Oral hygiene instructions by avoiding spicy food, cold and hot drinks (control group).
Behavioral: Negative control group

oral hygiene instructions by avoiding spicy food, cold and hot drinks (control group).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Severity of preoperative pain related to the ulcer
Time Frame: 2 weeks

Assessment of the pain related to the ulcer where the unit of measurement is numbers from zero to ten. The measurement tool will be A visual analogue scale (VAS) consisting of a 10-cm horizontal line starting with a pole of no pain (zero) to reach the end pole presenting the unbearable pain (ten). Individuals will be requested to mark the point on the horizontal line that best signifies their pain level
2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Rate of ulcer size reduction
Time Frame: 2 weeks

The measurement tool will be the measurement of ulcer size by a calibrated periodontal probe, the two dimensions will be calculated to represent the cross-sectional areas of the lesion, The unit of measurement is millimeter where decreasing in ulcer size represent favorable healing
2 weeks
Rate of effectiveness indices (EI) of healing
Time Frame: 2 weeks

The measurement tool will be the effectiveness indices (EI) of the pain improvement and ulcer size will be analyzed with a formula EI = [(V1 - V4 or V6) ÷ V1] × 100 %] where V4 and V6 refers to the values which will be measured at day 4 visit and day 6 visit, while V1 referred to the baseline value.

The effectiveness indices will be evaluated on a 4-Rank scale: (Liu et al., 2006).

  • Rank (1): Heal: EI ≥ 95%.
  • Rank (2): Marked improvement: El < 95%, but ≥ 70%.
  • Rank (3): Moderate improvement: EI < 70%, but ≥ 30%.
  • Rank (4): No improvement: EI < 30%. The unit of measurement is percentage, calculated from this formula then transformed into numerical ranks
2 weeks
Rate of postoperative complications
Time Frame: 2 weeks

The measurement tool will be survey questionnaire with ordinal scales will be filled by asking the children at each visit concerning their subjective experience of eating, drinking, and brushing teeth. The unit of measurement will be 4 response alternatives (no, slight, moderate, and severe difficulties)
2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
National Research Centre, Egypt

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 291020240341

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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