[Subgingival irrigation in periodontal therapy].

Subgingival plaque control is a decisive factor in periodontal therapy. Up to the present, removal of plaque and calculus by repeated scaling procedures has been regarded as the only viable method to achieve this goal. Recent investigations, however, suggest that the topical application of antibacterial substances or subgingival irrigation procedures are capable of yielding comparable improvements of periodontal health. This review paper is dedicated to subgingival irrigation. Besides an overview of techniques and results, we discuss our own experiences, including two case presentations. The results so far are encouraging. Nevertheless, due to the general lack of scientific data with extended time intervals, this method is not suitable yet as an alternative to conventional procedures in periodontal routine care. Until further long-term evidence has been gathered, subgingival irrigation should be regarded only as a valuable adjunct to scaling and root planing.