American Academy of Periodontology Statement on the Efficacy of Lasers in the Non‐Surgical Treatment of Inflammatory Periodontal Disease

Clinical application of lasers for the treatment of periodontal disease has continued to expand since their introduction for this purpose in the early 1990s1-9 but remains controversial.10-18 The primary purpose of this statement is to provide an evidence-based perspective on three of the purported benefits of using lasers in the nonsurgical treatment of periodontal disease, i.e., sulcular and/or pocket debridement (a.k.a. laser curettage), reduction of subgingival bacterial loads (a.k.a. pocket sterilization), and scaling and root planing (SRP).