Clinical and Microbiological Effectiveness of Diode Laser for Treating Patients with Stage II Grade A Periodontitis...

This split-mouth randomized controlled clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy of diode laser therapy as an adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP) in the management of patients with stage II grade A periodontitis. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to receive either SRP alone (control group) or SRP and diode laser application (study group) on the contralateral side. Clinical parameters (plaque index, gingival index, probing depth, and clinical attachment level) and microbiological markers; Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A actinomycetemcomitans), Porphyromonas gingivalis (P gingivalis), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (F nucleatum) were evaluated at baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks post-treatment. Both groups reported significant improvements in all clinical parameters over the follow-up period. The study group reported a significantly higher reduction in probing depth at 12 weeks than the SRP-alone group. Microbiological evaluation revealed significantly greater reductions in P gingivalis and F. nucleatum levels in the study group at later time points, whereas no significant alterations were observed for A actinomycetemcomitans. Our results suggest that the adjunctive use of diode laser therapy may improve the clinical and microbiological findings of nonsurgical periodontal management in patients with stage II grade A periodontitis.