The Effect of Diode Laser (980 nm) Treatment on Aggressive Periodontitis: Evaluation of Microbial and Clinical Parameters

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare the effect of scaling and root planing (SRP) alone, diode laser treatment (LAS) alone, and SRP combined with LAS (SRP + LAS) on clinical and microbial parameters in patients with aggressive periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with aggressive periodontitis were assessed for plaque, bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL). Four plaque samples were randomly obtained, one from each quadrant that was randomly assigned to SRP alone, SRP + LAS, LAS alone, and control (CRL). A 980-nm diode laser was used in continuous mode at 2 W power. Plaque samples were collected 2 wk, 12 wk, and 6 mo post-treatment. The levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Treponema denticola, and total bacterial load (TBL) were evaluated using ssrRNA probes. RESULTS: Bacterial counts were decreased with all three treatment modalities and they did not reach baseline levels at 6 mo post-treatment. The SRP + LAS group showed statistically significantly lower TBL and bacterial levels of P. gingivalis and T. denticola at 6 mo post-treatment compared to SRP or LAS treatments alone. At the end of the observation period significant differences were observed for PPD and CAL between the SRP + LAS group and both the SRP alone and LAS alone groups. No differences were detected for percentage of plaque and percentage of BOP between any of the treatment groups at 6 mo post-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limits of this study, diode laser-assisted treatment with SRP showed a superior effect over SRP or LAS alone for certain microbial and clinical parameters in patients with aggressive periodontitis over the 6-mo monitoring period.