2025 Volume 67 Issue 3 Pages 111-121
Dental treatments frequently involve pain, tension, and vibration, which can impose mental and physical burdens on the patients, thereby triggering stress responses. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of scaling and root planing (SRP) and subgingival scaling with a Er:YAG laser on the biological stress responses.
Thirty-two patients with periodontitis were randomly assigned to two groups (the scaler group and the laser group). For three teeth with periodontal pockets of 5 mm or more, SRP using a hand scaler or subgingival scaling with an Er:YAG laser was performed under local anesthesia. Vital signs were measured immediately before treatment, immediately after induction of local anesthesia, and immediately after treatment. Blood samples were collected before treatment and immediately after treatment, and periodontal examinations were conducted before treatment and 12 weeks after treatment.
Immediately after local anesthesia, significant increases of the body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse rate were observed in both groups (p<0.05), along with a significant decrease of the oxygen saturation (p<0.01). Similar values were obtained immediately after treatment. Improvement of the periodontal parameters was observed in both groups at 12 weeks after treatment. The maximum clinical attachment level was significantly reduced only in the laser group. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in any other parameters.
These results indicate that local anesthesia markedly alters the vital signs. In addition, no stress responses were observed to either SRP or subgingival scaling with a Er:YAG laser under anesthesia, indicating the absence of any differences between the two groups.
