Assessing the effectiveness of locally delivered chlorhexidine in the treatment of periodontitis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Several multicenter random clinical trials have studied a second-generation easy-to-use chlorhexidine local delivery system to assess its effectiveness as an adjunct to scaling and root planing, or SRP.

METHODS:

The author reviews the pharmacokinetics of the local delivery system and two of the multicenter randomized clinical trials. One study evaluated 118 patients using split-arch design and the other study 447 patients using parallel design. All patients underwent SRP. Test sites, which had pocket depths of 5 millimeters or larger, received a chlorhexidine chip (in both studies) or a placebo chip (the parallel study only). Test sites that remained 5 mm or larger were re-treated with a chip at three months and at six months (parallel study only).

RESULTS:

Both studies found greater mean reductions in probing depth when the chlorhexidine chip was used in conjunction with SRP than when SRP was used alone (1.16 mm vs. 0.7 mm, P < or = .0001, in the split-arch-design study and 0.95 mm vs. 0.65 mm, P = .00001, in the parallel-design study). The combined therapy resulted in significantly more sites with probing depth reductions of 2 mm or more compared with SRP alone (49.5 percent vs. 32.1 percent; P < .0001, in the split-arch-design study and 19.1 percent vs. 8 percent, P < .0001, in the parallel-design study).

CONCLUSIONS:

Use of the chlorhexidine chip has significantly improved the clinical parameters of periodontitis when used as an adjunct to SRP.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS:

When used with SRP, the chlorhexidine chip offers the clinician a new method of achieving and maintaining periodontal stability.

• Authors: W J Killoy
• Journal: Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) (J Am Dent Assoc) Vol. 130 Issue 4 Pg. 567-70 (Apr 1999) ISSN: 0002-8177 [Print] England
• PMID: 10203909 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Anti-Infective Agents, Local
• Chlorhexidine

Topics

• Anti-Infective Agents, Local (administration & dosage)
• Chlorhexidine (administration & dosage)
• Dental Scaling
• Drug Delivery Systems
• Europe
• Humans
• Multicenter Studies as Topic
• Periodontitis (drug therapy)
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• United States