Lack of adjunctive benefit of Er:YAG laser in non‐surgical periodontal treatment: a randomized split‐mouth clinical trial

Rotundo R, Nieri M, Cairo F, Franceschi D, Mervelt J, Bonaccini D, Esposito M, Pini‐Prato G. Lack of adjunctive benefit of Er:YAG laser in non‐surgical periodontal treatment: a randomized split‐mouth clinical trial. J Clin Periodontol 2010; 37: 526–533. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐051X.2010.01560.x. Abstract Aim: This split‐mouth, randomized, clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy of erbium‐doped:yttrium–aluminium–garnet (Er:YAG) laser application in non‐surgical periodontal treatment. Materials and Methods: A total of 27 patients underwent four modalities of non‐surgical therapy: supragingival debridement; scaling and root planing (SRP)+Er:YAG laser; Er:YAG laser; and SRP. Each strategy was randomly assigned and performed in one of the four quadrants. Clinical outcomes were evaluated at 3 and 6 months. Subjective benefits of patients have been evaluated by means of questionnaires. Results: Six months after therapy, Er:YAG laser showed no statistical difference in clinical attachment gain with respect to supragingival scaling [0.15 mm (95% CI −0.16; 0.46)], while SRP showed a greater attachment gain than the supragingival scaling [0.37 mm (95% CI 0.05; 0.68)]. No difference resulted between Er:YAG laser+SRP and SRP alone [0.05 mm (95% CI −0.25; 0.36)]. Conclusions: The adjunctive use of Er:YAG laser to conventional SRP did not reveal a more effective result than SRP alone. Furthermore, the sites treated with Er:YAG laser showed similar results of the sites treated with supragingival scaling.