| The purpose of this study was to clinically compare the use of a diode laser (DL) as an adjunct to periodontal surgery to that of conventional periodontal surgery (CPS). Thirteen patients with periodontal pockets in two different quadrants with at least one tooth exhibiting a pocket depth of ≥7 millimeters and attachment levels of ≥7mm were selected. One side was randomly selected to receive CPS and the other to receive CPS in conjunction with a Diode Laser (DL). The DL was used to de-epithelialize the inner part of the periodontal flap and photo-biostimulate the surgical area Probing depth (PD), clinical attachment levels (CAL), plaque index (PI), and gingival index (GI) were evaluated at baseline, 6 weeks and 5 months. Pain scale assessment (PS), quantity of pain medication (QPM) used, tissue edema (TE), and tissue color (TS) were evaluated one week following periodontal surgery (PS). Treatment differences were analyzed using McNemar's test, paired t-tests or a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. No statistical differences of CAL gain, PD, GI and PI reduction between test groups (TG) and control groups (CG) were seen. No statistical differences for TC and PS values between TG and CG were seen. Statistically greater TE reduction was demonstrated in TG compared to CG (p.0.05). Borderline significance (p=0.10) was seen for QPM taken after surgical procedures, with a greater amount required for CG. The PS and QPM values were statistically different on the 7th postoperative day in the laser site with respect to CG (p≤0.05). The first surgical treatment (TG and CG) performed was more painful than the second (p≤0.05). When data was analyzed from only the first surgical procedure, it was found that TG were less painful than CG (P<0.001). The use of a DL as an adjunct to periodontal therapy provided additional benefits to surgical periodontal therapy in terms of less edema and post operative pain. |
