Clinical and microbiologic effects of adjunctive antibiotics in treatment of localized juvenile periodontitis. A controlled clinical trial

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY was to assess the clinical and microbiologic effects of the combination of amoxicillin and metronidazole therapy as an adjunct t o mechanical treatment in the management of localized juvenile periodontiti s. Twenty-five localized juvenile periodontitis (WP) patients from a Brazil ian population were randomly allocated into an experimental group receiving mechanical treatment and antibiotics, and a control group receiving mechan ical treatment and placebo. Clinical and radiographic assessments, as well as microbiologic sampling for Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, were pe rformed at baseline and one year after the end of the treatment. At the ter mination of the study A. actinomycetemcomitans could be isolated from the o ral cavity of all patients in the control group who harbored the bacterium at baseline and in 4 out of 8 patients in the experimental group. Both trea tment modalities resulted in significant benefit on an individual basis. Th e experimental group, however, displayed better results than did the contro l group regarding gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), clinical attachm ent level (CAL), and radiographic analysis of crestal alveolar bone mass, b ut not with respect to plaque index (PI). No serious adverse effects of the antibiotic treatment were observed in the present study.