Abstract: Objective To evaluate changes in clinical parameters using Er, Cr: YSGG laser compared to submucosal debridement for the non-surgical treatment of early peri-implantitis. Methods Twenty-eight patients and 28 implants with early peri-implantitis were recruited. The patients were randomly divided into a test group and a control group. The test group (14 subjects/14 implants) was treated with Er, Cr: YSGG laser, and the control group (14 subjects/14 implants) received mechanical submucosal debridement using a titanium curettage and chlorhexidine irrigation. Clinical parameters, such as modified plaque index (mPI), peri-implant pocket probing depth (PD), and bleeding index (BI), were measured at baseline, 2 months, and 3 months after treatment. Differences in clinical parameters before and after treatment were compared. Results The mPI, PD and BI of both the test group and control group significantly reduced at 2 and 3 months after non-surgical intervention (P<0.05). Compared to the control group, the test group significantly achieved a reduction in BI value at 2 and 3 months after treatment (1.67 ± 0.45 vs. 2.40 ± 0.55, P=0.001; 1.07 ± 0.38 vs. 2.09 ± 0.83, P<0.001). Both the control and test group exhibited comparable mPI and PD reductions (P>0.05). The treatment success rates were 28.6% and 7.1% at the patient level (P=0.037) and 70.2% and 48.8% at the site level (P=0.012), respectively. Conclusion Er, Cr: YSGG laser for the treatment of early peri-implantitis may be used as an alternative to hand instrumentation to reduce soft tissue inflammation.

Key words: Peri-implantitis, Non-surgical treatment, Erbium.chromium:yttrium scandium gallium garnet laser