Combined photodynamic and low-level laser therapies as an adjunct to nonsurgical treatment of chronic periodontitis

Lui J, Corbet EF, Jin L. Combined photodynamic and low-level laser therapies as an adjunct to nonsurgical treatment of chronic periodontitis. J Periodont Res 2011; 46: 89–96. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S Background and Objective: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of dental lasers for treatment of periodontal diseases. The purpose of this short-term clinical trial was to evaluate the effects of a combination of photodynamic therapy with low-level laser therapy as an adjunct to nonsurgical treatment of chronic periodontitis. Material and Methods: Twenty-four nonsmoking adults with untreated chronic periodontitis were randomly assigned in a split-mouth design to receive scaling and root debridement with or without one course of adjunctive photodynamic therapy and low-level laser therapy within 5 d. Plaque, bleeding on probing, probing depth and gingival recession were recorded at baseline, 1 and 3 mo after the treatment. Gingival crevicular fluid was collected for assay of interleukin-1β levels at baseline, 1 wk and 1 mo. Results: The test teeth achieved greater reductions in the percentage of sites with bleeding on probing and in mean probing depth at 1 mo compared with the control teeth (p