Title	980 NM Diode Laser Adjunct To Scaling And Root Planing (SRP) Does Not Significantly Reduce Pocket Depth In Periodontal Patients As Compared With SRP Alone
Clinical Question	In a patient with chronic periodontitis, does SRP with 980 nm adjunct reduce pocket depth better than SRP alone?
Clinical Bottom Line	No evidence shows 980 NM Diode Adjunct to SRP reduces pocket depth more than SRP alone. (See Comments on the CAT below)
Best Evidence
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type (level of evidence) 19123307 Caruso/2008 Periodontally involved patients Randomized Clinical Trial Key results Slight initial improvement was noted with use of 980 NM Diode adjunct therapy, but at six months, pocket depth was the same between SRP (gold standard) patients and SRP+980 nm diode laser treatment.
Evidence Search	“periodontal disease and 980 laser”
Comments on The Evidence	Drop out rates, whether the study was single blind or double blind or neither were not reported. Follow-up period was adequate yet short; a longer follow-up would be preferred.
Applicability	The study can be applied to patients with chronic periodontitis who have more than 5 mm pockets.
Specialty	(Periodontics) (Dental Hygiene)
Keywords	980, 980 nm, diode laser, chronic periodontitis, pocket depth, scaling and root planing, SRP, periodontal disease
ID#	2089
Date of submission	09/15/2011
E-mail	hashem@uthscsa.edu
Author	Mohannad Hashem
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor	Marcel Noujeim, DDS, MS
Faculty mentor e-mail	Noujeim@uthscsa.edu
Basic Science Rationale (Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) None available
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT (FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) by EIrleen Hyun (San Antonio, TX) on 07/18/2012 “Clinical and microbiological evaluation of high intensity diode laser adjutant to non-surgical periodontal treatment: a 6-month clinical trial” investigates impact of laser therapy in traditional non-surgical periodontal therapy in randomized split clinical trial. This supports the author’s conclusion on no benefits of diode laser in non-surgical periodontics maintenance therapy.