Clinical comparison of the effectiveness of novel sonic instruments and curettes for periodontal debridement after 2 months

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo the effectiveness of sca ling and root planing of new oscillating instruments (Periosonic((R))) usin g a sonic handpiece compared to hand curettes with a split mouth design aft er 2 months. Methods: 11 patients with adult periodontitis participated in this study. P laque index (PII) (O'Leary), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket dept h (PPD), recession (REC) and clinical attachment level (CAL) were recorded at baseline and 2 months after treatment. After oral hygiene instruction, 2 randomly assigned quadrants per patient were scaled and root planed with c urettes (control side) and the remaining 2 quadrants with the Periosonic((R )) instruments 1 and 2 (test side). The student t-test for paired data was used to test the significance of difference between test and control sides. Results: There was no statistical difference (p >0.05) between the 2 sides for the improvement of the clinical parameters excepted for the group with initial PPD of 4-6 mm (test: 1.3 +/- 0.4 mm PPD reduction, control: 1.6 +/- 0.4 min). For PPD greater than or equal to7 nun, the test side had better clinical improvement in attachment levels (2.2 +/- 0.9 nun), less recession (-0.4 +/- 0.5 mm) with lower PPD reduction (2.4 +/- 0.6 mm) than the contr ol side (AL: 1.6 +/- 1.8 mm; REC: - 1.3 +/- 0.7 nun, PPD reduction: 3.0 +/- 1.4 mm.). Conclusion: This clinical study demonstrated that Periosonic((R)) instrumen ts are clinically at least as effective as curettes in PPD reduction when i nitial PPD is less than or equal to6 mm and show better clinical attachment level improvement with less recession for initial PPD of greater than or e qual to7 mm.