Assessment of Attachment Level by Laser in Pocket Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Scaling and root planing is the gold standard non-surgical therapy in patients with periodontitis. However, mechanical debridement alone may not eradicate all periopathogens from subgingival niches. Adjunctive use of diode laser in pocket therapy may improve tissue healing by its bactericidal and detoxification effects in subgingival areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare effectiveness of scaling and root planing alone and scaling and root planing along with diode laser in chronic periodontitis patients. METHODS: This is a prospective comparative study conducted in which 30 chronic periodontitis patients with at least one site with clinical attachment loss ?3mm in each contralateral quadrant were included and divided into Site A (control) scaling and root planing only and Site B (test) scaling and root planing with diode laser therapy. Clinical parameters (Plaque Index, Gingival Index, Probing Pocket Depth and Clinical Attachment Level) were recorded at baseline, one month and three months postoperatively and compared. Student's t-test was used to analyze intra and inter site mean variation. RESULTS: Site A and Site B showed significant improvements in clinical parameters at three months postoperatively (p ?0.05) with better improvement observed in Site B (p ?0.05).   Conclusions: The use of diode laser as an adjunct to scaling and root planing can be considered as an effective treatment modality for the management of chronic periodontitis than scaling and root planing alone.

Comparative Evaluation of Hydroxyapatite Bone Alloplast with Combination Bone Alloplast (Hydroxyapatitie and ?-Tricalcium Phosphate) in Grade II Mandibular Furcation Involvements.

BACKGROUND: The management of furcation involvements by regenerative surgery with bone alloplast have been used with varying degrees of success in periodontal therapy. The aim of the study was to clinically and radiographically compare the effectiveness of Hydroxyapatite bone alloplast with combination bone alloplast (Hydroxyapatite and ?-Tricalcium phosphate) for the treatment of Grade II mandibular furcation involvements. METHODS: Thirty patients with bilateral Grade II mandibular furcation involvements were distributed in Group A (Hydroxyapatite) and Group B (Hydroxyapatite and ?-Tricalcium phosphate). Clinical parameters such as Plaque Index, Gingival Index, Probing Pocket Depth, Clinical Attachment Level and Horizontal Probing Depth were recorded at baseline and at one, three and six mths postoperatively. Radiographic bone fill measurements were recorded at baseline and six months post-operatively. RESULTS: Both the groups showed statistically significant (p <0.01) improvement in clinical and radiographic parameters at each recall visits. Inter-group comparison of clinical parameters showed no significant difference in both the groups whereas radiographic measurements following six months post-surgery showed significantly (p <0.05) greater amount of bone fill in Group B compared to Group A. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that at six months post-operative, both the alloplastic materials resulted in significant improvement in clinical parameters and no significant difference was found between both groups. There was a statistically significant radiographic bone fill when a combination of Hydroxyapatite and ?-Tricalcium phosphate was used demontrating its effectiveness in the treatment of Grade II Furcation involvement.