Lack of adjunctive benefit of Er:YAG laser in non-surgical periodontal treatment: a randomized split-mouth clinical trial

• Published in: Journal of clinical periodontology 2010-06, Vol.37 (6), p.526-533
• Main Authors: Rotundo, Roberto, Nieri, Michele, Cairo, Francesco, Franceschi, Debora, Mervelt, Jana, Bonaccini, Daniele, Esposito, Marco, Pini-Prato, Giovanpaolo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Chronic Periodontitis - radiotherapy; Chronic Periodontitis - therapy; debridement; Dental Plaque Index; Dental Prophylaxis - methods; Dental Scaling - methods; Dentin Sensitivity - etiology; Dentistry; disease; driven; er-yag laser; Facial bones, jaws, teeth, parodontium: diseases, semeiology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gingival Hemorrhage - radiotherapy; Gingival Hemorrhage - therapy; Gingival Recession - radiotherapy; Gingival Recession - therapy; Humans; in-vitro; instrumentation; laser; Lasers, Solid-State - therapeutic use; Low-Level Light Therapy - methods; Male; Mastication - physiology; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; nd-yag; Non tumoral diseases; non-surgical/mechanical; Odontologi; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Pain Measurement; Patient Satisfaction; Periodontal Abscess - etiology; Periodontal Attachment Loss - radiotherapy; Periodontal Attachment Loss - therapy; Periodontal Index; Periodontal Pocket - radiotherapy; Periodontal Pocket - therapy; periodontitis; radiation; Root Planing - methods; root surfaces; scaling/root planing; Surveys and Questionnaires; therapy; Treatment Outcome; treatment/therapy; Ultrasonic Therapy
• ISSN: 0303-6979; 1600-051X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-051X.2010.01560.x

Rotundo R, Nieri M, Cairo F, Franceschi D, Mervelt J, Bonaccini D, Esposito M, Pini‐Prato G. Lack of adjunctive benefit of Er:YAG laser in non‐surgical periodontal treatment: a randomized split‐mouth clinical trial. J Clin Periodontol 2010; 37: 526–533. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐051X.2010.01560.x. Aim: This split‐mouth, randomized, clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy of erbium‐doped:yttrium–aluminium–garnet (Er:YAG) laser application in non‐surgical periodontal treatment. Materials and Methods: A total of 27 patients underwent four modalities of non‐surgical therapy: supragingival debridement; scaling and root planing (SRP)+Er:YAG laser; Er:YAG laser; and SRP. Each strategy was randomly assigned and performed in one of the four quadrants. Clinical outcomes were evaluated at 3 and 6 months. Subjective benefits of patients have been evaluated by means of questionnaires. Results: Six months after therapy, Er:YAG laser showed no statistical difference in clinical attachment gain with respect to supragingival scaling [0.15 mm (95% CI −0.16; 0.46)], while SRP showed a greater attachment gain than the supragingival scaling [0.37 mm (95% CI 0.05; 0.68)]. No difference resulted between Er:YAG laser+SRP and SRP alone [0.05 mm (95% CI −0.25; 0.36)]. Conclusions: The adjunctive use of Er:YAG laser to conventional SRP did not reveal a more effective result than SRP alone. Furthermore, the sites treated with Er:YAG laser showed similar results of the sites treated with supragingival scaling.