The Role of Lasers in Non-surgical Periodontal Treatment

TL;DR

Lasers can help in non-surgical periodontal treatment by reducing pocket depth temporarily, but their long-term benefits are unclear.

Contribution

This review evaluates the clinical effectiveness of lasers as an adjunct to traditional periodontal treatments.

Findings

Lasers as adjunctive therapy show short-term benefits like reduced pocket depth and improved clinical attachment level.

Long-term results (≥6 months) do not show significant differences compared to traditional scaling and root planing.

Erbium lasers can be used as monotherapy, while diode and Nd:YAG lasers are better as adjuncts.

Abstract

The use of lasers in non-surgical periodontal treatment has significantly increased, as they can contribute to the removal of subgingival calculus, disinfection and biomodification of the root surface, removal of diseased periodontal pocket epithelium, and antimicrobial activity against microflora. In addition, some types of lasers are proposed to promote the regeneration of periodontal tissues. This review aims to evaluate the role of lasers as an adjunct therapy in non-surgical periodontal treatment. A literature review was conducted, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in PubMed from 2020 to June 2025 were identified, with an emphasis on the clinical outcomes of laser treatment. A total of 10 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were obtained and assessed. Most findings indicate that the use of lasers as an adjunctive therapy provides statistically significant short-term benefits, such as a reduction in pocket depth and an improvement in clinical attachment level, compared with traditional scaling and root planing (SRP). However, long-term results (≥ 6 months) do not show a significant difference between the methods. Erbium lasers can be used as monotherapy, whereas diode and Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet) lasers can be used as adjunctive therapy to SRP. The adjunctive use of lasers offers temporary clinical benefits to non-surgical periodontal treatment, but the long-term efficacy remains questionable. Further well-designed, multicenter clinical studies with standardized protocols and long-term follow-up are needed to document their efficacy.