Retrospective review of laser periodontal therapy in a private dental practice

Title of Project: Retrospective Review of Laser Periodontal Therapy in a Private Dental Practice

• Student Name: Anilkumar Patel
• Academic Advisor and Department: Swati Biswas, PhD., Department of Biostatistics
• Site Supervisor and Location: Steven Britain, DDS, MS., 4900 Overton Ridge, Suite 213, Fort Worth, TX 76132

Introduction: LANAP (Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to treat inflammatory periodontal disease. This treatment improves hemostasis (stoppage of bleeding) intraoperatively and is well accepted by patients compared to Scaling and Root planning (SRP) treatment. Several studies, mainly case reports, have been published to demonstrate typical range of results obtained with LANAP. However, formal assessments (from statistical point of view) are needed which could assure reproducibility of the results and compare its effectiveness to SRP. To this end, a retrospective review has been carried out to evaluate effectiveness of LANAP compared to SRP at a private dental office.

Method: This study primarily compared mean post-treatment PDs (probing depths) between the treatment groups. According to the inclusion criteria, 67 and 63 patient records were selected for LANAP and SRP group, respectively. Within each group, patients were divided into two sub groups: (A) 4-6 mm PD and (B) >= 7mm PD, according to pre-treatment PDs. Descriptive statistics were obtained for the pre- and post-treatment PDs. ANCOVA (Analysis of covariance) was performed to assess the statistically significant difference between the means of posttreatment PDs of both groups, at each sub group level.

Results: Mean post-treatment PDs are 3.29 mm and 4.54 mm respectively for LANAP sub groups A & B. Similarly, they are 3.47 mm and 5.07 mm respectively for SRP sub groups A & B. When using mean pre-treatment PDs and treatment groups as independent variables, and mean post-treatment PDs as a dependent variable, significant p-values, i.e. 0.001 and 0.04, have been obtained respectively for sub group A & B analysis between both groups. The results of this study conclude that LANAP is significantly better than SRP.

Conclusion: Randomized controlled studies should be carried out in future to further check effectiveness of LANAP compared to SRP.

April 2011