Clinical Evaluation of Diode Laser as an Adjunct to Scaling and Root Planing in Patients With Chronic Periodontitis and Type II Diabetes Mellitus: A Split-Mouth Study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION  The primary goal of periodontal therapy is to arrest the inflammatory disease process which is done by non-surgical and surgical therapies in order to reduce the microorganisms. The outcome of periodontal therapy may not reveal the desired results owing to inaccessible areas for instrumentation, pathogenicity, resistance of the microorganisms, or even due to compromised host response to the treatment. Thus, adjunctive laser therapy has been proposed as a novel treatment modality in the treatment of periodontal disease.  Aim: The aim of this study was to clinically evaluate the effect of a 980 nm diode laser (DEN10B; Wuhan Gigaa Optronics Technology Co., Ltd., Wuhan, China) therapy as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis and type II diabetes. METHODS Twenty patients were divided into two groups in a split-mouth study design. Group I (Control) comprised mechanical debridement alone and Group II (test) comprised mechanical debridement followed by adjunctive laser therapy. The clinical parameters were recorded at baseline, six weeks, and three months, and the results were analyzed. RESULTS There was a significant improvement in gingival and plaque index in the test group. Though there was no significant improvement in probing pocket depth and clinical attachment, the results in the test group were superior relative to the control group. CONCLUSION Non-surgical periodontal therapy with adjunctive use of diode laser is effective in the management of generalized chronic periodontitis in patients with type II diabetes which led to a significant reduction in plaque score, gingival index score, probing pocket depth, and gain in clinical attachment level.