BACKGROUND

The use of adjunctive minocycline with mechanical debridement in treating periodontitis has been widely studied using different methods. However, the results from these studies are equivocal.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to clarify the efficacy of the adjunctive use of subgingival minocycline application plus scaling/root planing as compared with the results of one episode of scaling/root planing in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

METHODS

Fifteen patients were enrolled in this split-mouth clinical trial. Probing depth, clinical attachment loss, gingival index, and bleeding on probing were evaluated at the baseline before scaling/root planing and 6, 10, 14, and 18 weeks later according to a single-blind protocol. The amount of interleukin-1beta (interleukin-1beta pg/site) at each lesion was also simultaneously measured in gingival crevicular fluid in a parallel comparison design. After full-mouth baseline measurements and scaling/root planing, 78 lesions with a residual mean probing depth of 5 mm at anterior teeth were selected and equally distributed in either right or left sites based on a split-mouth symmetrical design and randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (with or without minocycline administration, n = 39 for each group).

RESULTS

Probing depth significantly decreased from the baseline (week 0) to week 6 after scaling/root planing (p < 0.05) in both groups, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, at weeks 10, 14, and 18, the experimental group showed significantly greater improvement in pocket reduction than the control group (p < 0.05). Similarly, both groups also showed significant decreases in gingival index scores from weeks 0-6 (p < 0.05), but gingival index reductions at weeks 10, 14, and 18 were statistically significant in favor of the experimental group (p < 0.05). The experimental group had more attachment gain than the control group at weeks 14 and 18 (p < 0.05). Values of interleukin-1beta (pg/site) at the experimental sites were significantly reduced at weeks 10, 14, and 18, as compared to values at control sites (p < 0.01). Finally, the incidence of bleeding on probing showed no differences between the two groups for any time interval (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In this 18-week clinical trial, the results suggested that scaling/root planing with adjunctive subgingival administration of minocycline ointment has a significantly better and prolonged effect compared to scaling/root planing alone on the reduction of probing depth, clinical attachment loss, gingival index, and interleukin-1beta content, but not on bleeding on probing.