Efficacy of adjunctive Er,Cr:YSGG laser application to scaling and root planing in periodontal maintenance patients with residual periodontal pockets

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of using Er,Cr:YSGG laser in an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP + Er,Cr:YSGG) in periodontal maintenance patients with residual periodontal pockets. This study is a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial and a split-mouth design. Fifteen periodontal maintenance patients with two single-rooted teeth with probing depth (PD) ≥ 5 mm in two different quadrants were randomly assigned to scaling and root planing (SRP) as a control group or SRP + Er,Cr:YSGG as test group. Plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), PD, relative probing attachment level (RPAL), and relative gingival recession (RGR) were evaluated at baseline, 3 months and 6 months after treatment by one calibrated examiner. At 6 months after treatment, PDs were statistically significantly reduced in both SRP (0.9 ± 0.6 mm) and SRP + Er,Cr:YSGG (1.1 ± 0.7 mm) compared with pretreatment PD (p < 0.05). Only SRP + Er,Cr:YSGG demonstrated statistically significant probing attachment level (PAL) gained at 6 months after treatment (0.8 ± 0.6 mm; p < 0.05). Gingival recession (GR) statistically significantly increased in SRP + Er,Cr:YSGG 3 months after the treatment (0.5 ± 0.5 mm; p < 0.05). Nevertheless, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 treatment modalities regarding PD reduction, PAL gain, or GR at 6 months after treatment. Only SRP + Er,Cr:YSGG demonstrated statistically significant PAL gained at 6 months after treatment (0.8 ± 0.6 mm; p < 0.05); however, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 treatment modalities regarding PD reduction, PAL gain, or GR at 6 months after treatment in maintenance patients with residual periodontal pockets.