Joanna J. Kamma

The Effect of Diode Laser (980 nm) Treatment on Aggressive Periodontitis: Evaluation of Microbial and Clinical Parameters

OBJECTIVE The aim was to compare the effect of scaling and root planing (SRP) alone, diode laser treatment (LAS) alone, and SRP combined with LAS (SRP + LAS) on clinical and microbial parameters in patients with aggressive periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty patients with aggressive periodontitis were assessed for plaque, bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL). Four plaque samples were randomly obtained, one from each quadrant that was randomly assigned to SRP alone, SRP + LAS, LAS alone, and control (CRL). A 980-nm diode laser was used in continuous mode at 2 W power. Plaque samples were collected 2 wk, 12 wk, and 6 mo post-treatment. The levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Treponema denticola, and total bacterial load (TBL) were evaluated using ssrRNA probes. RESULTS Bacterial counts were decreased with all three treatment modalities and they did not reach baseline levels at 6 mo post-treatment. The SRP + LAS group showed statistically significantly lower TBL and bacterial levels of P. gingivalis and T. denticola at 6 mo post-treatment compared to SRP or LAS treatments alone. At the end of the observation period significant differences were observed for PPD and CAL between the SRP + LAS group and both the SRP alone and LAS alone groups. No differences were detected for percentage of plaque and percentage of BOP between any of the treatment groups at 6 mo post-treatment. CONCLUSIONS Within the limits of this study, diode laser-assisted treatment with SRP showed a superior effect over SRP or LAS alone for certain microbial and clinical parameters in patients with aggressive periodontitis over the 6-mo monitoring period.

Cytokines in gingival crevicular fluid of adolescents and young adults.

BACKGROUND/AIM The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of the cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-4, and IL-8 in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of adolescents and young adults. METHODS Twenty-five adolescents aged between 14 and 16 years (Group A) and 20 periodontally healthy young adults aged between 25 and 35 years (Group B) were selected from two private dental clinics limited to pedodontics and periodontics respectively in Piraeus Greece. All subjects were systemically healthy. Clinical examination included probing pocket depth (PPD), presence or absence of plaque, and bleeding on probing (BOP). GCF was collected from four sites per subject. IL-1beta, IL-4, and IL-8, measured as total amounts (pg/30 s), were evaluated in 180 samples using a commercially available sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS IL-1beta mean levels of Groups A and B were adjusted for BOP and PPD. Differences of IL-1beta mean levels between the two age groups were statistically significant (F = 50.245, P < 0.001) in favour of Group A. Adolescents showed statistically significantly lower mean levels of IL-4 than young adults in the presence of BOP (F = 10.690, P = 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between adolescents and adults for the means of IL-8 adjusted for BOP and plaque presence (F = 2.032, P = 0.161). CONCLUSIONS Within the limits of this study the differences reported in mean levels of IL-1beta and IL-4 may be attributed to the different age status.