Probing depth reduction of laser application in periodontal therapy: a network meta-analysis

The aim was to systematically evaluate the probing depth (PD) reduction of lasers in scaling and root planing (SRP) of chronic periodontitis by network meta-analysis (NMA). Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were searched through electronic-search and hand-search up to January 2020. Standard mean different (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were counted for PD reduction. The random-effects NMA were performed using mvmeta routine in STATA software (version 13). This NMA analysed seven periodontal treatments through 37 RCTs. No inconsistency was detected. Compared with mechanical SRP, significant differences were in favour of diode laser (DL) as adjunct at 3 months (SMD = 0.61; 95% CI range: 0.27–0.96) and Nd:YAG as adjunct (SMD = 0.29; 95% CI range: 0.03–0.55), Er,Cr:YSGG as monotherapy (SMD = 0.37; 95% CI range: 0.04–0.71) and Er,Cr:YSGG as adjunct (SMD = 0.53; 95% CI range: 0.23–0.84) at 6 months after treatment. Compared with Er:YAG as monotherapy, significant differences were in favour of DL as adjunct at 6 months (SMD = 0.51; 95% CI range: 0.07–0.95) after treatment. In terms of PD reduction at 3-month follow-up, the ranking result from best to worst was Nd:YAG as adjunct, DL as adjunct, Er:YAG as adjunct, Er,Cr:YSGG as monotherapy, Er:YAG as monotherapy and mechanical SRP. In terms of PD reduction at 6-month follow-up, the ranking result was DL as adjunct, Nd:YAG as adjunct, Er:YAG as adjunct, Er,Cr:YSGG as adjunct, Er:YAG as monotherapy, Er,Cr:YSGG as monotherapy and mechanical SRP. Laser-assisted periodontal treatment has better PD reduction.