Abstract:

Objective · To investigate the clinical effects of photo-activated disinfection (PAD)-assisted non-surgical therapy on the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Methods · Eleven patients with chronic periodontitis (totally 118 selected sites) were randomly enrolled. A split-mouth self-control method was adopted. Selected sites with the probing depth (PD) of bilateral homonymous teeth ≥ 5 mm were randomly assigned to the group A (receiving scaling and root planning, SRP) and the group B (receiving SRP+ PAD). Periodontal clinical indexes, inflammation indexes, and periodontal pathogens at selected sites were examined at baseline and 6 and 12 weeks after treatment. Results · Both SRP alone and SRP+PAD improved the periodontal inflammation significantly. The positive rate of bleeding on probing (BOP) 12 weeks after treatment was remarkably lower in the group B than in the group A (37.3% vs 57.6%, P=0.042). Both SRP and SRP+PAD effectively decreased matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in gingival crevicular fluid. The IL-1β levels 6 and 12 weeks after treatment were significantly lower in the group B than in the group A [(17.99±14.26) pg/mL vs (32.64±30.69) pg/mL, P=0.007; (11.37±10.25) pg/mL vs (23.85±15.55) pg/mL, P=0.000]. Both treatments decreased the ratio of P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum in total bacteria. Conclusion · PAD can serve as a potential adjunctive therapy to conventional SRP in the treatment of chronic periodontitis with better improvement of bleeding gums and control of periodontal inflammation.

Key words: photo-activated disinfection, chronic periodontitis, periodontal index, matrix metalloproteinase-8, interleukin-1β, periodontal pathogens