CLINICAL EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF DIODE LASER AS AN ADJUNCT TO OPENFLAP DEBRIDEMENT AS COMPARED TO OPEN FLAP DEBRIDEMENT ALONE IN THE PERIODONTAL TREATMENT OUTCOME OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS – A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to compare and clinically evaluate the adjunctive benets of a diode laser (DL) to conventional open ap debridement (OFD) in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. DL is an excelle Background: nt soft tissue surgical laser, indicated for soft tissue curettage or sulcular debridement with an additional bactericidal effect. Studies have been conducted to determine the effect of DL as an adjunct to OFD. There is limited documentation regarding the clinical effectiveness to prove adjunctive effect of OFD in the surgical periodontal therapy. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing use of DL only in Methods: continuous and contact mode on undersurface of ap post-conventional OFD for treatment of chronic periodontitis in the test group were considered. Studies published only in English language with follow-up periods of 3 and 6 months post-operatively and assessing probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attatchment level (CAL) as the outcomes were considered. A total of 6 RCTs were included in this systematic review. Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used for assessing the risk of bias. 3/6 studies concluded that DL signicantly led to reduction in PPD or ga Results: in in CAL when used as adjunct to OFD. Whereas, other 3/6 studies concluded that DL did not signicantly lead to reduction in PPD or gain in CAL when used as adjunct to OFD. Conclusion: DL can be used as an adjunct to standard treatments (OFD) of chronic periodontitis i.e; chronic periodontitis rather than as a replacement for standard treatments.