Subjective intensity of pain during supportive periodontal treatment using a sonic scaler or an Er:YAG laser

P>Objective To assess the subjective intensities of pain during supportive periodontal treatment using a sonic scaler or an Er:YAG laser. Material and Methods Forty patients with two residual periodontal pockets following conventional periodontal therapy were treated using a sonic scaler and an Er:YAG laser in a split-mouth design. A visual analogue scale was used for pain assessment directly after each treatment procedure. Additionally, pain was recorded during the treatment of 11 patients at intervals of 0.5 s using an inter-modal intensity comparison. Results Pain assessment during treatment showed that laser treatment (median pain score: 0.71 U, maximum: 9.94 U, minimum: 0 U) caused less pain than the sonic device (median pain score: 2.17 U, maximum: 11.26 U, minimum: 0 U) (p < 0.05) with no difference in the treatment time (p > 0.05). These results could be confirmed by the visual analogue scale: pain scores assessed after laser treatment (median: 1 U, maximum: 7 U, minimum: 0 U) were lower than those after sonic instrumentation (median: 3.5 U, maximum: 7.5 U, minimum: 0 U) (p < 0.05). Conclusions Using an Er:YAG laser during supportive periodontal treatment, painful sensations can be reduced compared with sonic scaler instrumentation.