Efficacy of Er:YAG laser on periodontitis as an adjunctive non-surgical treatment: A split-mouth randomized controlled study.

Abstract

To evaluate the adjunctive efficacy of Er:YAG laser use with mechanical scaling and root planing (SRP) for non-surgical treatment of periodontitis. In a randomized, single-blinded, controlled trial, 27 patients were recruited. Using a split-mouth design, two quadrants were randomly allocated into either a test group or a control group. The test quadrants received Er:YAG laser (ERL; 100mJ/pulse; 15Hz to hard tissue and 50mJ/pulse; 30Hz to soft tissue) plus SRP treatment, while the control quadrants received SRP only. We evaluated periodontal indexes, including probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding index (BI), and plaque index (PLI) at baseline, 3months, and 6months. The PD and CAL means in the ERL+SRP group were significantly lower than those in the SRP group at 3-month follow-up (PD: 2.98±0.38mm vs. 3.09±0.35mm; CAL: 4.51±0.69mm vs. 4.72±0.67mm) and 6-month follow-up (PD: 2.91±0.31mm vs. 3.02±0.30mm; CAL: 4.52±0.65mm vs. 4.72±0.66mm; p=0.03 for both PD and CAL). There were no significant differences in BI and PLI between two groups. The Er:YAG laser treatment combined with conventional SRP significantly improved PD and CAL compared to SRP therapy alone; however, these differences were very small and, as a result, the adjunctive effect of Er:YAG laser is likely to be minimal clinically important.