EVALUATION OF PERIODONTAL TREATMENTS USING CONTROLLED-RELEASE TETRACYCLINE FIBERS - MAINTENANCE RESPONSE

THE PURPOSE OF THIS INVESTIGATION was to examine periodontal disease r ecurrence from 3 to 12 months following various treatments with scalin g and root planing and controlled-release tetracycline fibers. One-hun dred-twenty-two (122) adult volunteers with at least one bleeding pock et greater than or equal to 5 mm in each of four quadrants were enroll ed in this study. One or two such sites in each quadrant were selected as test sites. Quadrants were randomly assigned to receive one of fou r treatments: scaling and root planing (S); scaling and root planing p lus tetracycline fiber for 10 days (SF); fiber therapy alone for 10 da ys (F); or fiber therapy alone for 20 days (FF). After treatment, no s upportive care was provided during the 12-month study period. Probing depth (PD), attachment loss (AL), plaque, and bleeding on probing were measured at baseline, and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after treatmen t. PD and AL measures were taken at three locations within each site a nd averaged for each site. Disease recurrence was defined as greater t han or equal to 1 mm mean attachment loss at a site during the 3- to 1 2-month period. One-hundred-sixteen (116) subjects completed the study . Sites treated with SF experienced significantly (P < 0.05) less dise ase recurrence (4%) than S, F, or FF (9%, 10%, and 12%, respectively). Results of this study suggest that, compared to S, F, or FF; scaling and root planing in conjunction with tetracycline fiber therapy for 10 days can significantly reduce disease recurrence 3 to 12 months follo wing treatment in the absence of supportive care.