Should Antibiotics Be Prescribed to Treat Chronic Periodontitis?

Abstract

Although scaling and root planing is a cost-effective approach for initial treatment of chronic periodontitis, it fails to eliminate subgingival pathogens and halt progressive attachment loss in some patients. Adjunctive use of systemic antibiotics immediately after completion of scaling and root planing can enhance the degree of clinical attachment gain and probing depth reduction provided by nonsurgical periodontal treatment. This article discusses the rationale for prescribing adjunctive antibiotics, reviews the evidence for their effectiveness, and outlines practical issues that should be considered before prescribing antibiotics to treat chronic periodontitis.

• Authors: John Walters, Pin-Chuang Lai
• Journal: Dental clinics of North America (Dent Clin North Am) Vol. 59 Issue 4 Pg. 919-33 (Oct 2015) ISSN: 1558-0512 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 26427574 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Anti-Bacterial Agents

Topics

• Anti-Bacterial Agents (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Biofilms
• Chronic Periodontitis (drug therapy, surgery)
• Humans
• Root Planing