Adjunctive Nd:YAG Laser Improved Periodontal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes Trial

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Adding neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser therapy to scaling and root planing produced greater six-month improvements in probing depth than scaling and root planing alone in patients with periodontitis and type 2 diabetes, according to a randomized controlled trial published Nov. 2 in the Journal of International Medical Research.

The trial enrolled 120 patients and randomly assigned 60 to conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy plus adjunctive Nd:YAG laser treatment and 60 to conventional therapy alone. Conventional therapy consisted of scaling and root planing with standardized home oral hygiene instruction and reinforcement. Periodontal and glycemic measures were taken at baseline and six months.

For the primary outcome, baseline-adjusted mean probing depth at six months was 0.70 mm lower in the laser group (95% CI, 0.56–0.84 mm; P < .001). Clinical attachment level favored the laser group by 0.67 mm, and the share of sites bleeding on probing was 11.3 percentage points lower.

Glycemic measures, which were secondary outcomes, also favored the laser group. Baseline-adjusted HbA1c was 0.26 percentage points lower and fasting plasma glucose was 0.62 mmol/L lower, both at P < .001.

Gingival recession was slightly greater in the laser group, by 0.09 mm (P = .004). The groups were generally comparable at baseline except for a modest difference in mean gingival recession, and no serious treatment-related adverse events were recorded.

Lijun He, Haifeng Hu, Yunhan Wang, and Yue Yang of the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University in China conducted the trial, which was registered with Research Registry as researchregistry12005. The hospital funded the work, and the authors declared no conflicts of interest.

The authors cautioned that the glycemic results should be interpreted carefully because they were secondary endpoints and follow-up was limited to six months.

Sources:
Journal of International Medical Research, “Adjunctive neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser therapy for periodontitis in type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial,” published online Nov. 2, 2026: doi.org/10.1177/03000605261489340
PubMed, PMID 42969670: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42969670