Clinical evaluation of excisional new attachment procedure versus laser assisted new attachment procedure in the treatment of periodontal pockets

TheLaser Assisted New Attachment Procedure (LANAP) protocol is a laser based periodontal regenerative procedure and was patterned, conceptually, after the Excisional New Attachment Procedure (ENAP) to separate the diseased epithelium from the underlying connective tissue and to selectively vaporize and disrupt inflamed and necrotic tissue from connective tissue. : The present study was designed to compare and evaluate the clinical efficacy of LANAP versus ENAP in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. : Twenty periodontal pocket sites of ≥5mm in systemically healthy patients were selected and randomly allocated to either (ENAP) Excisional New Attachment Procedure (Group I) or (LANAP) Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure (Group II). Patients were evaluated for Plaque Index, Gingival Index, Gingival Bleeding Index, Probing Depth, Loss of attachment, recession and VAS scores. Patients were recalled for follow up at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months at which clinical parameters were recorded. : The results of the present study revealed statistically insignificant difference in both groups however clinically significant reduction in probing depth was seen with ENAP as compared to LANAP but laser procedure had less VAS scores as compared to ENAP. Although probing depth reduction was more for ENAP, patient discomfort with less bleeding was observed with LANAP.