Efficacy and safety of a diode laser in second-stage implant surgery: a comparative study

For more than a decade, peri-implant tissues have been treated with soft tissue lasers to create a bloodless flap for implant placement and to uncover implants with minimal bleeding, trauma, and anaesthesia. This study was designed to assess if dental implant uncovering is possible with a diode laser without anaesthesia, and to compare its performance with traditional cold scalpel surgery. Thirty patients with a total of 45 completely osseointegrated implants participated in this study. Patients were divided into two groups. For the study group, second-stage implant surgery was done with a 970 nm diode laser. For the control group, the implants were exposed with a surgical blade. Certain parameters were used for evaluation of the two techniques. The use of the diode laser obviated the need for local anaesthesia; there was a significant difference between the two groups regarding the need for anaesthesia (P < 0.0001). However, there were no significant differences between the two techniques regarding duration of surgery, postoperative pain, time for healing, and success of the implants. The diode laser can be used effectively for second-stage implant surgery, providing both the dentist and the patient with additional advantages over the conventional methods used for implant exposure.