Two-year clinical outcomes following non-surgical mechanical therapy of peri-implantitis with adjunctive diode laser application.

BACKGROUND: Non-surgical mechanical therapy of peri-implantitis (PI) with/without adjunctive measures yields limited clinical improvements. AIM: To evaluate the clinical outcomes following non-surgical mechanical therapy of PI with adjunctive application of a diode laser after an observation period >/=2 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: At baseline (BL), 15 patients with 23 implants with a sandblasted and acid-etched (SLA) surface diagnosed with PI were enrolled and treated. PI was defined as presence of probing pocket depths (PPD) >/=5 mm with bleeding on probing (BoP) and/or suppuration and >/=2 threads with bone loss after delivery of the restoration. Implant sites were treated with carbon fiber and metal curettes followed by repeated application of a diode laser 3x for 30 s (settings: 810 nm, 2.5 W, 50 Hz, 10 ms). This procedure was performed at Day 0 (i.e., baseline), 7 and 14. Adjunctive antiseptics or adjunctive systemic antibiotics were not prescribed. RESULTS: All implants were in function after 2 years. The deepest PPD decreased from 7.5 +/- 2.6 mm to 3.6 +/- 0.7 mm at buccal (P < 0.0001) and from 7.7 +/- 2.1 mm to 3.8 +/- 0.9 mm at oral sites (P < 0.0001), respectively. The % of implants with >/=1 site with BoP decreased from 100% at BL to 43% after 2 years (P = 0.0002). The % of implants with suppuration decreased from 87% at BL to 0% after 2 years (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Non-surgical mechanical therapy of PI with adjunctive repeated application of a diode laser yielded significant clinical improvements after an observation period of at least 2 years.