Short-term clinical efficacy observation of adjunctive Er,Cr:YSGG laser application following subgingival scaling in patients with severe periodontitis / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

ABSTRACT

Objective • To observe the short-term clinical efficacy of adjunctive Er,CrYSGG laser application following subgingival scaling in patients with severe periodontitis. Methods • In this parallel control design clinical trial, 46 patients with severe periodontitis were selected. Baseline examination was performed 2 weeks after supragingival scaling. Then the patients were randomly divided into the test group and the control group, with 23 cases in each group. After ultrasonic subgingival scaling, sites with probing depth (PD) ≥ 5 mm of patients in two groups received subgingival debridement with Er,CrYSGG laser and hand curettes, receptively. The changes in plaque index (PLI), PD, clinical attachment level (CAL), the percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) positive sites, and the degree of subjective pain during treatment with visual analogue scale(VAS)were compared between two groups at baseline, 6 weeks after treatment, and 3 months after treatment. Results • For sites with PD ≥ 5 mm, PLI, PD, CAL, and the percentage of BOP positive sites significantly reduced for both groups at 6 weeks and 3 months after treatment compared with baseline (all P=0.000). For sites with 5 mm ≤ PD ≤ 6 mm, the CAL of the test group was significantly lower compared with the control group at 6 weeks after treatment (P=0.036). For sites with PD ≥ 7 mm, the PDs of the test group were significantly lower compared with the control group at 6 weeks and 3 months after treatment (P=0.002, P=0.039). The PD reduction between baseline and 6 weeks after treatment was greater in the test group compared with the control group (P=0.015). The CAL of the test group was lower compared with the control group at 6 weeks after treatment (P=0.011). The VAS of the test group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P=0.005). Conclusion • Adjunctive Er,CrYSGG laser application following subgingival scaling can achieve similar short-term clinical efficacy compared with traditional hand curettes. Er,CrYSGG laser may be beneficial particularly on the reduction of PD and regain of CAL in deep pockets on a short-term basis, which can make the patients more comfortable. Subgingival scaling with adjunctive Er,CrYSGG laser application can be an effective way for the non-surgical periodontal therapy.