RESEARCH ARTICLE


Minimally Invasive Periodontal Treatment Using the Er,Cr: YSGG Laser. A 2-year Retrospective Preliminary Clinical Study



Bret Dyer 1, Eric C. Sung 2, *
1 American Board of Periodontology, University of Texas, Houston, USA
2 University of California Los Angeles, School of Dentistry, Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, Hospital Dentistry, and Biomaterials, USA

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2012
Volume: 6
First Page: 74
Last Page: 78
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-6-74
DOI: 10.2174/1874210601206010074

Article History:

Received Date: 28/2/2012
Revision Received Date: 15/3/2012
Acceptance Date: 15/3/2012
Electronic publication date: 9/5/2012
Collection year: 2012

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Creative Commons License
© Dyer and Sung; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the UCLA School of Dentistry CHS B3-069 10833 LeConte Ave Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668 USA; Tel: 310-825-5889; Fax: 310-825-6345; E-mail: esung@dentistry.ucla.edu


Abstract

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) using the erbium, chromium: yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser (Waterlase MD, Biolase, Irvine, CA) to treat moderate to advanced periodontal disease is presented as an alternative to conventional therapies. To date, there are few short- or long-term studies to demonstrate the effects of this laser in treating and maintaining periodontal health. Electronic clinical records from 16 patients – total of 126 teeth, with pocket depths ranging from 4 mm to 9 mm – were treated with the same protocol using the Er,Cr:YSGG laser. The mean baseline probing depths (PD) were 5 mm and clinical attachment levels (CAL) were 5 mm in the 4 - 6 mm pretreated laser group. The mean baseline probing depths were 7.5 and 7.6 mm for PD and CAL respectfully in the 7 – 9 mm pretreatment laser group. At the 2 year mark, the average PD was 3.2 ± 1.1 mm for the 4-6 mm pocket group and the 7-9 mm pocket group had a mean PD of 3.7 ± 1.2 mm. mean CAL was 3.1 ± 1.1 mm for the 4-6 mm group and 3.6 ± 1.2 for the 7-9 mm group with an overall reduction of 1.9 mm and 4.0 mm respectively. At one and two years, both groups remained stable with PD comparable to the three-month gains. The CAL measurements at one and two years were also comparable to the three-month gains.

Keywords: Periodontitis Laser, Er,Cr:YSGG, Non-surgical periodontal therapy, Periodontal therapy.