RESUMO
Background and aims. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of adjunctive photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of aggressive periodontitis. Materials and methods. A total of 24 patients with clinical diagnosis of aggressive periodontitis received scaling and root planing (SRP) for periodontal treatment. In a split-mouth design study, the teeth of one quadrant of each arch with ≥4 mm of probing depth were selected randomly for additional treatment with PDT (test group). PDT was performed with a diode laser beam with a wavelength of 670-690 nm and a power of 75 Mw. The control group consisted of selected teeth of the contralateral quadrant (SRP only). Before any treatment, subgingival plaque samples were collected by an endodontic paper cone for microbiological analysis by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of Aggregatibacter actinomycetecommitans. Clinical parameters including clinical attachment loss (CAL) as primary outcome, plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD) and gingival recession (REC) were measured at baseline and after 90 days. Inter-group and intra-group statistical analyses were performed. Results. Treatment groups showed an improvement in all the clinical parameters and a significant reduction in the counts of A. actinomycetecommitans at 90 days compared to baseline (P < 0.05). None of the periodontal parameters exhibited significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Within the limitations of this study, the results did not show additional benefits from PDT as an adjunctive treatment for patients with aggressive periodontitis.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this clinical investigation was to compare clinical and microbiological effectiveness of adjunctive CHX gel in the treatment of periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four subjects with localized or generalized moderate-to-severe chronic periodontitis underwent scaling and root planing. One tooth in each quadrant with a probing depth of >4 mm was chosen for combined gel and SRP, with contralateral tooth as control (SRP treated site). Clinical assessment was carried out at baseline and 1 and 3 months later; microbial assessment was performed by real-time PCR. Periodontal probing depth (PPD) was considered as primary outcome. RESULTS: Twenty patients completed the study. Baseline PPDs were 4.90±0.78 and 5.05±0.79 in the SRP and gel groups, respectively (P>0.05), which decreased to 3.67±0.59 and 3.7±0.83 one month after treatment and 3.25±0.65 and 3.38±0.79 three months after treatment. Although values decreased significantly in both groups after one and three months (P=0.001 in the SRP and P=0.001 in the gel group), the inter-group difference was not significant neither at one-month (P=0.47) nor at three-month (P=0.77) intervals. The only clinical parameters exhibiting statistically significant inter-group differences was BOP in both one-month (P=0.004) and three-month (P=0.0001) intervals. All the other clinical measurements showed significant decreases after one and three months in both sites but without inter-group differences. CONCLUSION: Subgingival application of xanthan chlorhexidine gel combined with scaling and root planing reduced bleed-ing of periodontal pockets. Clinical trials to evaluate effectiveness of this gel in aggressive and severe periodontitis modified by systemic factors are suggested.
