CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF SYSTEMIC DOXYCYCLINE AND IBUPROFEN ADMINISTRATION AS AN ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT FOR ADULT PERIODONTITIS

The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of a systemic antibiotic (doxycycline) and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (i buprofen), administered either separately or combined, as an adjunctiv e treatment of scaling/root planing (SRP). Thirty-two subjects diagnos ed with generalized moderate adult periodontitis and having at least 2 teeth with greater than or equal to 5 mm probing depth were randomly divided into 4 groups. Each group was treated with oral doxycycline an d/or ibuprofen for 6 weeks as follows: group 1, doxycycline 200 mg the first day followed by 100 mg per day; group 2, ibuprofen 800 mg per d ay; group 3, doxycycline plus ibuprofen scheduled as in groups 1 and 2 ; group 4, one placebo capsule/day (control). A split mouth design was utilized in each subject such that half of the teeth received one ses sion of scaling/root planing (SRP), while the other half received no S RP. Plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), and cl inical attachment level (CAL) using a customized acrylic stent were re corded at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 weeks following SRP. Analys is using ANOVA and Student t-test showed statistical significance (P l ess than or equal to 0.05) from baseline data in: 1) gains of 0.4 mm a nd 0.5 mm of CAL for groups 1 and 3, respectively; 2) reduction of 0.7 mm PD for group 3; 3) reduction of 0.4 and 0.1 GI scores for groups 1 and 3, respectively; and 4) gain of 0.5 mm CAL and reductions of 0.4 mm PD and 0.2 GI score for the SRP group when compared to the no SRP g roup at 24 weeks. It may be concluded that the adjunctive use of syste mic doxycycline alone or in combination with ibuprofen results in a st atistically significant, yet modest clinical, improvement beyond that obtained by scaling/root planing.