The efficacy of the diode laser at 800-980 nm as an aid to non-surgical therapy in periodontitis treatment: a review of literature.

The aim of this literature review is to assess the effectiveness of diode laser at a wavelength of 800-980 nm in addition to non-surgical periodontal therapy in periodontitis treatment. The authors performed an electronic research on Pubmed inserting as keywords: (laser OR laser therapy OR diode laser) and (periodontitis OR periodontal disease). The field has been narrowed to select only Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) performed from 2010 to 2020. The result of this research was 84 articles, of which eight were included in the review because they respect the inclusion criteria. The clinical, immunological, and microbiological parameters studied in the various clinical random trials were analysed. It has been shown that four out of eight studies have achieved greater benefits, in terms of clinical parameters, with the use of diode laser compared to Scaling and Root Planing. However, the greater increase in clinical parameters in diode laser-treated patients compared to the control group was mainly detected in the short term rather than in the long term. In terms of microbiological parameters, no improvement was detected after six months. Only one study reported six-month improvements in immunological parameters in patients treated with DL compared to the Scaling and Root Planing only group. In conclusion, considering the limitations of this review of literature, there is no evidence that the diode laser at 800-980 nm in addition to non-surgical periodontal therapy is more effective than SRP alone in the long term.