Diode Laser Has an Additional Benefit When Used with Conventional Scaling and Root Planning for Chronic Periodontitis Treatment - Comparative Analysis

BACKGROUND Almost 47 % of the population over the age group of 30 is affected by chronic periodontitis. Although the first and gold standard therapy in periodontal treatment is scaling and root planing (SRP), which is a non-surgical approach towards treatment, yet another therapy for the treatment of chronic periodontitis is to irradiate the periodontal pockets with laser. The purpose of this study was to confirm as to whether the use of diode laser (800 – 980 nm) as adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP) improved the results of conventional mechanotherapy in the treatment of chronic periodontitis patients. METHODS In this study we designed our groups in such a way that 40 patients (20 males and 20 females) with two deepest nonadjacent pockets ≥ 5mm in two different quadrants were selected. In this study each treatment group belonged to a separate quadrant of the mouth. One group was allotted to SRP group while the second one was allotted to SRP + Diode Laser group. Clinical parameters like (Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Bleeding on Probing (BOP) in chronic periodontitis patients were measured and evaluated at baseline, after 1 month and after 3 months of the treatment. Statistical analysis was also done intra group and inter group. RESULTS From this we infer that PPD was significantly reduced in SRP and SRP + Diode laser groups from baseline and post 1 month (P < 0.001), between baseline and post 3 months (P < 0.001) and between 1 month and 3 months (P < 0.001). There was also significant improvement in CAL in SRP and SRP + Diode Laser groups from baseline and post 1 month (P < 0.0001), between baseline and post 3 months (P < 0.0001) and between 1 month and 3 months (P < 0.0001). BOP also reduced in SRP and SRP + Diode Laser group from baseline. When SRP and SRP + Diode laser groups were compared they showed non statistically significant results but individually both the groups showed statistically significant results. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study indicate that, comparison of SRP alone group which is a conventional method with SRP as adjunct to Diode laser group i.e., a non-surgical approach showed improvement of CAL and also reduction in PPD and BOP for the treatment of chronic periodontitis patients. KEY WORDS Periodontitis, Laser, Scaling and Root Planing, Adjunct Therapy, Diode Laser