Clinical outcomes after nonsurgical periodontal therapy with an Er:YAG laser device: a randomized controlled pilot study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the short-term effects of nonsurgical periodontal treatment with the short-term effects of Er:YAG laser debridement (ERL) and manual scaling and root planning (SRP) in nonsmoking patients with chronic periodontitis.

Methods: Nineteen nonsmoking patients (mean age 60.7) with chronic generalized periodontitis were randomly treated with ERL or SRP in a split-mouth design. Clinical attachment level (CAL), periodontal pocket depth (PPD), and bleeding on probing (BOP) were recorded. Immediately after completion of the treatment procedure, patients used a visual analogue scale (VAS) to grade the degree of discomfort experienced during treatment.

Results: Both groups showed significant reductions in their PPD, CAL, and BOP values 2 months after treatment. The sites treated with Er:YAG laser demonstrated mean PPD changes that varied from 5.00 ± 0.63 to 3.54 ± 0.83 mm, mean CAL changes that varied from 5.19 ± 0.69 to 3.86 ± 0.94 mm, and BOP changes that varied from 26.57 ± 12.54 to 13.17 ± 7.52 mm. Sites treated with manual SRP demonstrated mean PPD changes that varied from 4.91 ± 0.55 to 3.51 ± 0.98 mm, mean CAL changes that varied from 5.08 ± 0.59 to 3.95 ± 1.16 mm, and BOP values that varied from 24.81 ± 7.65 to 15.41 ± 6.32 mm. Comparison of the two techniques demonstrated the statistically significant superiority of Er:YAG only for the CAL scores (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Within the limits of this study, ERL may be posited as an alternative to mechanical treatment in the management of chronic periodontitis. In addition, ERL may be performed on patients who are sensitive to the use of injectable anesthetics. Future studies, with larger samples, are needed to determine the long-term clinical outcomes of ERL.