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Adjunctive clinical effect of a water‐cooled Nd: YAG laser in a periodontal maintenance care programme: a randomized controlled trial
Author(s) -
Slot Dagmar E.,
Timmerman Mark F.,
Versteeg Paula A.,
Velden Ubele,
Weijden Fridus A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of clinical periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.456
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1600-051X
pISSN - 0303-6979
DOI - 10.1111/jcpe.12007
Subject(s) - medicine , dentistry , scaling and root planing , bleeding on probing , debridement (dental) , randomized controlled trial , adjunctive treatment , gingival and periodontal pocket , periodontitis , clinical attachment loss , chronic periodontitis , surgery
Background Various laser systems are currently available for intra‐oral use. Neodymium:Yttrium–Aluminium Garnet lasers(Nd: YAG ) have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for soft tissue treatment in the oral cavity. Objectives The aim of this study was to test whether the use of a water‐cooled Nd: YAG laser during a maintenance care programme as an adjunct to supragingival and subgingival debridement (scaling and root planing, SRP ) with hand and ultrasonic instruments results in clinical improvement compared with SRP alone. Material and Methods This study was an examiner‐blind, randomized and controlled clinical trial using a split‐mouth design. Thirty subjects were selected, originally diagnosed with moderate to severe generalized periodontitis, following a periodontal maintenance care programme (PMC). Immediately after SRP in two randomly assigned contra‐lateral quadrants, all pockets ≥5 mm were additionally treated with a Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm, 4W, 250‐μsec pulse). Clinical assessments [probing pocket depth PPD , bleeding on pocket probing ( BOPP )] were performed pre‐treatment and at 6 months. Based on these assessments, the periodontal inflamed surface area ( PISA ) was calculated. Results At 6 months, the clinical parameters had significantly improved for both regimens. No statistically significant differences between treatment modalities were observed for PPD and BOPP scores at any time. PISA scores supported these findings. Conclusions In residual pockets ≥5 mm, treated in a PMC , the adjunctive use of an Nd: YAG laser does not provide a clinically significant additional advantage.