THE EFFECT OF A ONE-STAGE FULL-MOUTH DISINFECTION ON DIFFERENT INTRAORAL NICHES - CLINICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

A treatment for periodontal infections often consists of consecutive r ootplanings (per quadrant, at a 1- to 2-week interval), without a prop er disinfection of the remaining intra-oral niches (untreated pockets, tongue, saliva, mucosa and tonsils). Such an approach, could theoreti cally lead to a reinfection of previously-treated pockets. The present study aims to examine the effect of a full-mouth disinfection on the microbiota in the above-mentioned niches. Moreover, the clinical benef it of such an approach was investigated, 16 patients with severe perio dontitis were randomly allocated to a test and a control group, The pa tients from the control group were sealed and rootplaned, per quadrant , at 2-week intervals and obtained oral hygiene instructions. The pati ents from the test group received a full-mouth disinfection consisting of scaling and rootplaning of all pockets in 2 visits within 24 h. in combination with tongue brushing with 1% chlorhexidine gel for 1 min, mouth rinsing with a 0.2% chlorhexidine solution for 2 min and subgin gival irrigation of all pockets (3x in 10 min) with 1% chlorhexidine g el. Besides oral hygiene, the test group rinsed 2x daily with 0.2% chl orhexidine and sprayed the tonsils with a 0.2% chlorhexidine for 2 mon ths, Plaque samples (pockets, tongue, mucosa and saliva) were taken at baseline and after 2 and 4 months, and changes in probing depth. atta chment level and bleeding on probing were reported, The full-mouth dis infection resulted in a statistically significant: additional reductio n elimination of periodontopathogens, especially in the subgingival po ckets, but also in the other niches, These microbiological improvement s were reflected in a statistically-significant higher probing depth r eduction and attachment gain in the test patients. These findings sugg est that a disinfection of all intra-oral niches within a, short time span leads to significant clinical and microbiological improvements fo r up to 4 months.