CLINICAL AND RADIOGRAPHIC COMPARISON OF TWO WAYS OF APPLICATION OF LOW POWER LASER AS ADJUVANT TO NON-SURGICAL PERIODONTAL TREATMENT IN PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS
periodontitis, low-power laser therapy, photobiomodulation, non-surgical periodontal treatment.
Introduction: Photobiomodulation has been used as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal treatment due to its effects on inflammation modulation and accelerated tissue repair. However, there is no standardization in the laser application protocol. Aim: To evaluate and compare two forms of low-power laser application used in Photobiomodulation as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal treatment in patients with periodontitis. Methods: This is a randomized, split-mouth, double-blind clinical trial, in which three diseased sites (with interproximal attachment loss of at least 1 mm and probing depth of 4 mm or more) were selected from each patient, in different quadrants, for one of the three treatment groups: RACR group, RACR + LBPI group (test 1), and RACR + LBPT group (test 2). Low-power laser therapy in the test groups was performed at three time points, 48 hours, 7 days, and 14 days after the completion of full-mouth RACR. Clinical parameters such as probing depth, clinical attachment level, and bleeding on probing were evaluated before treatment (T0), and at 3 months (T1) and 6 months (T2) follow-up. In addition, standardized periapical radiographs were used to measure and compare radiographic bone density at the three time points. Statistical tests will be performed using a significance level of p < 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals. It is expected that the sites in test group 1, compared to test group 2, will achieve better results in the evaluated clinical parameters, due to the direct application of the laser inside the periodontal pocket.