AIM: Tha aim of this paper is to assess the effects in vivo of the Nd: Yag laser on gingival microflora in patients periodontally at risk. METHODS: An investigation has been carried out on 5 patients suffering from serious periodontal disease, with a sub-gingival check-up a week after the treatment. The selected patients presented either a relapse after the raising of a traditional flap, or showed acute phenomena and were, therefore, treated with a laser with the propedeutic intention of surgery; or they refused traditional surgical therapy or presented systematic pathologies that could not be included in the appropriate protocol. Pockets were chosen that had a probe depth of between 5-8 mm, an optic fibre probe was pushed as far as possible into the probe depth, for about 1 minute per site, 5 times, at 30 second intervals. The samples, taken in order to calculate bacteria colonies, were carried out before using the laser, immediately after and, again, 1 week later. RESULTS: All the sites showed a slight reduction in the quantity of colonies forming immediately after the Nd:Yag laser application, while a week later, only if clinical inflammation appeared to be resolved, the bacteria forming colonies seemed to be reduced. CONCLUSION: From this study it can be concluded that the use of the Nd:Yad laser represents, in mild and average periodontitis, a therapeutic aid to scaling and root planing and, in the same way, in serious periodontitis for traditional surgical therapy.
AIM: Tha aim of this paper is to assess the effects in vivo of the Nd: Yag laser on gingival microflora in patients periodontally at risk. METHODS: An investigation has been carried out on 5 patients suffering from serious periodontal disease, with a sub-gingival check-up a week after the treatment. The selected patients presented either a relapse after the raising of a traditional flap, or showed acute phenomena and were, therefore, treated with a laser with the propedeutic intention of surgery; or they refused traditional surgical therapy or presented systematic pathologies that could not be included in the appropriate protocol. Pockets were chosen that had a probe depth of between 5-8 mm, an optic fibre probe was pushed as far as possible into the probe depth, for about 1 minute per site, 5 times, at 30 second intervals. The samples, taken in order to calculate bacteria colonies, were carried out before using the laser, immediately after and, again, 1 week later. RESULTS: All the sites showed a slight reduction in the quantity of colonies forming immediately after the Nd:Yag laser application, while a week later, only if clinical inflammation appeared to be resolved, the bacteria forming colonies seemed to be reduced. CONCLUSION: From this study it can be concluded that the use of the Nd:Yad laser represents, in mild and average periodontitis, a therapeutic aid to scaling and root planing and, in the same way, in serious periodontitis for traditional surgical therapy.