Efficacy of Diode Laser in the Management of Dentin Hypersensitivity Following Periodontal Surgery

• Published in: Journal of international oral health Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 103
• Main Authors: George, V, Mathew, T, George, Nebu, John, Saumya, Prakash, Sneha, Vaseem, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mumbai Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01-01-2016; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Complications; Complications and side effects; Dentin; Fluorides; Health aspects; Lasers; Oral surgery; Patients; Periodontal disease; Physiology; Semiconductor lasers; Studies; Surgery; Teeth; India
• ISSN: 0976-7428; 0976-1799
• DOI: 10.4103/0976-7428.199493

Dentine hypersensitivity is a common clinical condition in patients after periodontal surgery. Laser has been reported to be a better treatment option for this condition than conventional desensitizing agents. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of 810 nm diode laser (DL) in reduction of dentine hypersensitivity (DH) in periodontal patients following surgical therapy. Patients with chronic generalized periodontitis who underwent flap surgery and consequently experienced dentin hypersensitivity were randomly selected for the study and divided into 2 groups. Group 1(control group) patients were instructed to use Fluoride containing tooth paste. In Group 2 (test group) patients application of diode laser in non contact mode was carried out. DH was evaluated in all patients using evaporative stimulus (ES) and tactile stimulus (TS) immediately before and after therapy. It was also evaluated on the 2nd, 7th ,14th and 30th days post therapy. The test and control groups were found to be similar with regard to ES (p=0.648) and TS (p=1.000) at baseline. In the DH evaluation after 15 minutes, TS values had significant reduction in the test group in comparison with the control (p=0.04). Similarly, between 15 and 30 minutes, TS values in the test group showed a significant difference when compared to control (p=0.01). Also, despite the fact that patients in the test group were given a single application of laser at baseline, they experienced a continuous improvement in the measured response to ES (79%) and TS (95%) which lasted for up to 14 days (p=0.002). The difference from baseline through to the end of the study (day 30) for the measured parameters was found to be significantly better for test as compared to control group (p= 0.006 for ES, p= 0.004 for TS). A significant immediate response was observed with DL which was maintained until day 30. Thus DL can be considered to be a useful adjunct in reducing DH post periodontal surgery.