The outcome of CO₂laser root conditioning in periodontal treatment

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate periodontal tissue repair after CO₂laser applications in the treatment of severe periodontal defects. Five patients, three men and two women, age range 37 to 55 years, were enrolled. All of the participants in the study were in good general health and presented with at least one tooth with PD of 6 to 9 mm and bleeding on probing. At baseline, all patients were treated with full mouth SRP, motivation and oral hygiene instructions. Clinical assessment after cause-related therapy showed need for additional periodontal treatment. The periodontal surgery procedures were performed with the adjunctive use of a CO₂laser in defocused pulsed mode at 4 W, with a frequency of 20 Hz and a duty cycle of 6%. All the patients participating in the study were re-assessed 12 months after surgery. All the teeth that received periodontal surgery in conjunction with laser treatment showed significant improvement in all periodontal parameters registered. This pilot study pointed out that CO₂laser treatment could induce predictable clinical improvements when used as an adjunctive tool with traditional periodontal surgery. More extensive, long-term and comparative studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis and to better clarify the effect of laser treatment on periodontal wound healing.