Adjunctive antibiotics in the treatment of generalized aggressive periodontitis

Abstract

Top of pageAbstract Design The study was a randomised controlled trial. Intervention People who had generalised aggressive periodontitis (GAP) underwent a standard cycle of periodontal therapy (oral hygiene instruction, supra- and subgingival mechanical instrumentation of root surface) following which members of the test group took an adjunctive course of systemic antibiotics (500 mg metronidazole and 500 mg amoxicillin) for 7 days and the control group received a placebo. Reassessment visits occurred 2 and 6 months post-treatment. Outcome measure The primary outcome measure was probing pocket depth (PPD) reduction in sites with an initial PPD >7 mm. The secondary outcome measure was changes in other clinical parameters. Results A total of 41 subjects took part in the study, with one lost to follow-up between the 2- and 6-month reassessments. In both groups all clinical parameters improved at 2 and 6 months. The test group showed greater reduction in PPD than the control group in terms of full-mouth PPD and life accumulative attachment loss. Seventy-four percent of pockets with PPD >5 mm at baseline were <4 mm at 6 months in the test group compared with 54% in the control group (P=0.008). Conclusions A 7-day adjunctive course of metronidazole and amoxicillin improved short-term clinical outcomes in people who had GAP.