It is well known that the popularity of oral implants is increasing every year as people's living standards improve. The number of patients with peri-implantitis has increased rapidly in recent years due to the treatment conditions and the lack of awareness of patient protection at a later stage. If peri-implantitis is not treated promptly and effectively, it can lead to the loss of the implant.

Peri-implant infections have a similar etiology to periodontal infections, so is the treatment similar?

Conventional treatment options for peri-implantitis without flap reversal have a poor chance of success. When we treat peri-implantitis after flap treatment, the outcome is much better. Although the flap allows better access to the implant, the sterilisation of the implant surface is much more complex than with normal subgingival scraping. The complex structure of the implant surface, although a good facilitator of bonding during implantation, is a headache trap for peri-implant infections. As a result, the tools utilised in the treatment of periodontitis have difficulty in completely removing the bacteria and infected tissue from the implant surface, making their use much less effective.

Laser-assisted periodontitis treatment options ：

Using the properties of oral laser wavelengths and biological tissue absorption, lasers can act as bacterial killers and biostimulators. In particular, the wavelength of the semiconductor laser is in the near infrared band, so the 980nm wavelength has a good absorption effect on the melanin carried by bacteria and can be more effective in killing them. In addition, the 650nm wavelength has a biostimulating effect and accelerates tissue recovery, making it the tool of choice for peri-implantitis treatment.

Objectives of peri-implantitis treatment

1. Reduce implant infection

2. Strengthen the bond with the bone

In order to achieve this goal, the implant surface should be free from any foreign bacterial or toxin infection. If cleared, previous tissue inflammation will recover quickly and the patient's own healthy cells will re-attach to the implant surface. The key to the treatment of peri-implantitis is the removal of infected material and toxins from the implant surface.

Traditional cleaning methods including the use of scrapers or ultrasound devices are limited in the treatment of peri-implantitis. If laser treatment is used in addition to the traditional treatment modalities, it can be very sterilising, disinfecting and biostimulating.

Stay tuned, in the next chapter you will read about the PIOON S3 blue 3-wavelength dental laser for periodontal treatment.