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

Aim To evaluate the adjunctive efficacy of Er: YAG laser use with mechanical scaling and root planing ( SRP ) for non‐surgical treatment of periodontitis. Materials and Methods 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 ; 100  mJ /pulse; 15 Hz to hard tissue and 50  mJ /pulse; 30 Hz 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, 3 months, and 6 months. Results 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 ± 0.38 mm vs. 3.09 ± 0.35 mm; CAL : 4.51 ± 0.69 mm vs. 4.72 ± 0.67 mm) and 6‐month follow‐up ( PD : 2.91 ± 0.31 mm vs. 3.02 ± 0.30 mm; CAL : 4.52 ± 0.65 mm vs. 4.72 ± 0.66 mm; p  =   0.03 for both PD and CAL ). There were no significant differences in BI and PLI between two groups. Conclusions 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.