Immediate Implant Placement in an Infected Extraction Socket: What Role Does the Er,Cr:YSGG Water Laser Play?｜證據鏈

In this article, “water laser” refers only to the 2,780 nm Er,Cr:YSGG device explicitly identified in the studies. It does not include a generic laser, Er:YAG, or other wavelengths. Existing clinical studies have used Er,Cr:YSGG for adjunctive decontamination of an infected socket after extraction, but every protocol also includes removal of the source of infection, mechanical debridement, and irrigation; some additionally include hydrogen peroxide, bone augmentation, regenerative membranes, and medication. It is therefore impossible to isolate from the outcomes how much effect Er,Cr:YSGG itself added. A retrospective cohort analysed 149 implants. There was one failure (1%) in the Er,Cr:YSGG infected-socket group and none in the control group of established edentulous sites. The difference between the groups in marginal bone-level change was 0.2 mm, with P = 0.058, which was not statistically significant. This was not a randomised trial, and the groups also differed at baseline. The cautious conclusion is that “clinical-use data exist within a complete protocol and strict case selection”, not that “Er,Cr:YSGG makes an infected socket equivalent to a healthy edentulous site”.