DIODE LASER AS AN ADJUNCTIVE TO NON SURGICAL PERIODONTAL THERAPY DURING MAINTENANCE PHASE: A RCT

A variety of non-surgical and surgical therapies are used to treat chronic periodontitis. Limitations in conventional non-surgical periodontal therapy have led to the exploration of other treatment options to improve clinical outcomes. Lasers have been proposed as alternative treatment for non-surgical periodontal therapy and are patient friendly. There are few studies reporting laser use in maintenance phase. To determine and compare the pocket depths, relative attachment levels, bleeding on probing and plaque indices in patients treated with scaling and root planing alone and along with diode laser.The study is carried out on 30 subjects who full fill the inclusion and exclusion criteria Group A: 15 patients treated only with scaling and root planing . Group B: 15 patients treated with scaling and root planing  along with diode laser irradiation. The clinical parameters are probing pocket depth, relative attachment level, bleeding on probing and plaque index which were recorded at base line, 7 days and after 1 month. And results showed that the use of diode lasers as an adjunct to scaling and root planing during maintenance phase showed better results when compared to scaling and root planing alone. Moderate periodontal pockets with moderate attachment loss showed significant improvement in Group A than in Group B. There was no change in deep pockets with severe attachment loss in both groups.