Alkaya Bahar, Kayhan Hamza Gokhan, Demirbilek Furkan, Sahin Mustafa, Totik Nazli, Ozcan Mustafa, Teughels Wim
Oral Health Prev Dent. 2025 Sep 26;23:577-584. doi: 10.3290/j.ohpd.c_2275.
This study investigates the effects of zinc-containing stents on gingival inflammation, bleeding, and plaque regrowth in patients with gingivitis.
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted at Çukurova University, enrolling 42 systemically healthy gingivitis patients aged 18-30. Participants were assigned to either a test group (Zn group) or a control group (placebo stents) and instructed to wear their stents for at least 12 h daily for 4 weeks after scaling. Clinical measurements, including gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and bleeding on probing (BOP), were assessed at baseline and at the 2nd, 4th, and 8th weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS and RStudio.
Both groups showed statistically significant improvements in gingival health over time, but the zinc-stent group exhibited statistically significantly lower GI scores at all time points, suggesting a greater reduction in gingival inflammation. PI and BOP scores also improved in both groups, though no statistically significant difference was observed between them.
The results indicate that zinc-containing stents may serve as a beneficial adjunct to mechanical plaque control in gingivitis management. Zinc's antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties likely contribute to improved gingival health. The findings suggest that zinc-containing stents provide additional benefits in reducing gingival inflammation beyond mechanical plaque removal alone. These stents may be a promising adjunctive approach in periodontal therapy, but further long-term studies are needed to confirm their broader clinical applications.
The study was conducted in accordance with the CONSORT guidelines and registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT06888440), 20 March 2025.
本研究调查含锌支架对牙龈炎患者牙龈炎症、出血和菌斑再生长的影响。
在库库洛瓦大学进行了一项随机、双盲、安慰剂对照研究，招募了42名年龄在18 - 30岁的全身健康的牙龈炎患者。参与者被分为试验组（锌组）或对照组（安慰剂支架组），并被指示在洁治后每天佩戴支架至少12小时，持续4周。在基线以及第2、4和8周评估临床指标，包括牙龈指数（GI）、菌斑指数（PI）和探诊出血（BOP）。使用IBM SPSS和RStudio进行统计分析。
随着时间的推移，两组患者的牙龈健康状况均有统计学意义上的显著改善，但含锌支架组在所有时间点的GI评分均显著低于对照组，表明牙龈炎症的减轻更为明显。两组的PI和BOP评分也有所改善，但两组之间未观察到统计学显著差异。
结果表明，含锌支架可能是牙龈炎治疗中机械性菌斑控制的有益辅助手段。锌的抗菌和抗炎特性可能有助于改善牙龈健康。研究结果表明，含锌支架在减少牙龈炎症方面除了单纯的机械性菌斑清除外还具有额外的益处。这些支架可能是牙周治疗中有前景的辅助方法，但需要进一步的长期研究来证实其更广泛的临床应用。
本研究按照CONSORT指南进行，并于2025年3月20日在clinicaltrials.gov（NCT06888440）注册。
