Increased Detection Frequency of Periodontopathogenic Species Following SRP

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine if scaling and root planing alone influences the clinical and microbiological findings in patients with gingivitis and beginning periodontitis.

Methods: 100 patients (23 to 78 years of age), were consecutive recruited, scaling and root planing (SRP) was done by the dental hygienist at baseline. Following randomization, the patients of test group n=50 underwent SRP at three-month intervals. The patients of control group n=50 were not given any additional SRP.

At baseline and after 12 months, the clinical findings PI, BoP, PPD and CAL were recorded for each of the 100 individuals and subgingival plaque and saliva samples taken from those patients. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the following species were subjected to qualitative analysis: F. nucleatum (FN), A. actinomycetemcomitans (AA), P. gingivalis (PG), T. forsythia (TF), T. denticola (TD) and P. intermedia (PI).

Results: The clinical findings documented after 12 months revealed a significant reduction of PI (50% to 47%) in the test group, which contrasted with 58% to 71% in the control group. Both in the test and the control group, BoP and PPD had hardly changed. In the test group, the detection frequency of periodontopathogenic species was only slightly lower for PI and AA, while a significant rise was observed in the test group for all the other species, i.e., FN: 50% to 58.5%, PG: 16% to 28%, TF: 27.8% to 42.5% and TD: 13% to 23%. In the control group, a frequency increase was identified for all six species. Also, similar findings of the test and control groups were observed in the saliva samples.

Conclusions: The results of the present study show that a purely mechanical SPR in patients with gingivitis and beginning periodontitis is not sufficient enough for a distinct improvement of clinical and microbiological findings.