Subgingival air‐polishing with erythritol during periodontal maintenance Randomized clinical trial of twelve months

• Published in: Journal of clinical periodontology Vol. 41; no. 9; pp. 883 - 889
• Main Authors: Müller, Nada, Moëne, Raphaël, Cancela, José A., Mombelli, Andrea
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.09.2014
• Subjects: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans - isolation & purification; Anti-Infective Agents, Local - administration & dosage; Anti-Infective Agents, Local - therapeutic use; Bacterial Load; Chlorhexidine - administration & dosage; Chlorhexidine - therapeutic use; Dental Plaque Index; Dental Scaling - instrumentation; Dental Scaling - methods; Dentin Sensitivity - classification; Erythritol - administration & dosage; Erythritol - therapeutic use; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gingival Hemorrhage - prevention & control; Gingival Recession - classification; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pain Perception - physiology; Periodontal Debridement - methods; Periodontal Diseases - microbiology; Periodontal Diseases - prevention & control; Periodontal Index; Periodontal Pocket - microbiology; Periodontal Pocket - prevention & control; Periodontal Therapy; Single-Blind Method; Ultrasonics - instrumentation; clinical trial; subgingival plaque removal; maintenance; air-polishing
• ISSN: 0303-6979; 1600-051X; 1600-051X
• DOI: 10.1111/jcpe.12289

To evaluate repeated subgingival air-polishing in residual pockets with a new erythritol powder containing 0.3% chlorhexidine. Single-centre, examiner masked, randomized clinical trial of 12 months with a two-arm, within-subject parallel design. Fifty patients in periodontal maintenance were monitored in 3-month intervals. At months 0, 3, 6 and 9, all sites presenting with a probing depth (PD) >4 mm were subject to subgingival air-polishing (test side) or ultrasonic debridement (control side). The primary endpoint was presence/absence of PD >4 mm after 12 months. Totally 6918 sites were monitored at baseline, 457 of them had a PD >4 mm (range 5-9 mm). The number of pockets >4 mm per subject, PD and bleeding on probing were significantly lower at month 12. Differences between test and control were not significant. There was a significant difference in favour of air-polishing for the perception of pain/discomfort. Differences of frequencies at >1000 and >100,000 cells/ml of six microorganisms between baseline and month 12 were not significant. At month 12, test sites were less frequently positive for Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans at >1000 cells/ml than controls, and counts never exceeded 100,000 cells/ml. Repeated subgingival air-polishing reduced the number of pockets >4 mm similar to ultrasonic debridement. It was safe and induced less pain.