Clinical outcomes of experimental gingivitis and peri-implant mucositis treatment with professionally administered plaque removal and photodynamic therapy.

AIM

To comparatively evaluate the outcomes of professionally administered plaque removal (PAPR) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment for experimentally induced gingivitis (G) and peri-implant mucositis (p-iM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty systemically healthy patients, each contributing a single implant-supported unit in a posterior sextant and a tooth within the same quadrant, were selected. Patients underwent an experimental G and p-iM trial consisting of a 2-week period of undisturbed plaque accumulation and a 6-week resolution phase following treatment administration. Supragingival plaque levels, probing depth (PD) and bleeding on probing (BoP) were recorded at experimental tooth and implant either before or 2 and 6 weeks after administration of PAPR+PDT.

RESULTS

The results of the study indicate that (i) treatment with PAPR and PDT resulted in a significant reduction in the median number of BoP+ sites from 1 to 0 around teeth (P=.01) and from 3.5 to 2.0 around implants (P=.03), with the treatment effect being affected by initial PD; (ii) implants showed a significantly higher number of residual BoP+ sites following treatment, and the difference between implants and teeth was particularly pronounced (implants: 42%; teeth: 22%) at shallow (1-2 mm) sulci as observed at 6 weeks following treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

G and p-iM can be effectively treated with PAPR+PDT. At shallow (1-2 mm) sulci, implants may show a higher number of residual bleeding sites when compared to teeth, and the number of residual bleeding sites following PAPR+PDT increases with increasing PD around either teeth or implants.