Approximal plaque pH lowering after sugar intake in a periodontally infected dentition

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of periodontal inflammation on the approximal plaque pH after a sucrose rinse. Materials and methods Thirty-two periodontitis patients (aged 38–72 years; 9M/23F) were included. All patients were in need of periodontal surgery. Two non-adjacent interdental spaces, one healthy (no bleeding on probing [BoP] and probing pocket depth [PPD] < 4 mm) and one periodontally diseased (BoP and PPD ≥5 mm) were selected. Before and after surgery, the approximal plaque pH was measured before and after 2, 5 and 10 min after a 1-min rinse with sucrose solution. Results In periodontally diseased interdental spaces, a significant pH drop was seen 5 min after rinsing. In healthy spaces and after surgery, a significant pH drop was seen after 2 min. A multilevel regression analysis showed that greater probing pocket depths were significantly associated with pH change measured 5 min after rinsing (p < .05). Further on, the approximal pH drop after a sucrose rinse tended to be delayed in dentitions with ≥10% of PPD ≥5 mm (p = .052). Conclusions The results suggest that an ongoing periodontal inflammation could temporarily neutralize acidic metabolic products after a sugar challenge. This may further suggest that plaque pH measured after a sugar rinse might be used to identify an ongoing periodontal disease.