Laser application in non-surgical periodontal therapy: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
The primary aim was to address the following focused question: What is the clinical effect of laser application compared with mechanical debridement in non-surgical periodontal therapy in patients with chronic periodontitis? A secondary aim was to survey the relevant literature in relation to safety of laser applications.


METHODS
Electronic databases of the PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched and completed by manual searches up to December 2007.


RESULTS
Following screening, 12 publications (11 studies) were eligible for the review. A meta-analysis could not be performed due to the heterogeneity of the studies. The results from a narrative synthesis indicate that Er:YAG laser monotherapy resulted in similar clinical outcomes, both in the short and the long term (up to 24 months), compared with mechanical debridement. There is insufficient evidence to support the clinical application of either CO(2), Nd:YAG, Nd:YAP, or different diode laser wavelengths.


CONCLUSIONS
The Er:YAG laser seems to possess characteristics most suitable for the non-surgical treatment of chronic periodontitis. Research conducted so far has indicated that its safety and effects might be expected to be within the range reported for conventional mechanical debridement. However, the evidence from the evaluated studies is weak.
Schwarz
Frank
F
Department of Oral Surgery, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany. frank.schwarz@med.uni-duesseldorf.de
Aoki
Akira
A
Becker
Jürgen
J
Sculean
Anton
A
D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000628:therapy*; D003646:Debridement; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D054020:Lasers, Gas / Q000627:therapeutic use; D054023:Lasers, Semiconductor / Q000627:therapeutic use; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State / Q000627:therapeutic use