Laser tissue bonding—a new venture into primary periodontal wound closure techniques

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of Laser tissue bonding (LTB) by comparing with the routinely used sutures for closure of intraoral surgical wounds after periodontal surgery. Methods Patients enrolled in the study were divided into 2 groups. Seventeen patients were included for a split mouth study where modified periodontal flap operation was performed, and in test side, LTB was carried out whereas in control, conventional suturing. Laser welding of the gingiva was performed with an 810 diode laser with a power of 1.5 W in contact mode. Results A highly statistically significant difference was observed in LTB (test) subgroup when compared with conventional suturing, depicting superiority in terms of Power Doppler analysis of vascularisation, wound healing scores, time consumption and microbial colonization. Conclusion Within the limitations of the study, it was concluded that LTB was effective in achieving wound closure with no morbid complications associated. More long-term randomized controlled trials are required to further prove the efficacy of this novel technique.