Microbiological assays as predictors of the response to periodontal therapy

Abstract

Thirty-four patients with periodontal disease each had subgingival plaque samples collected from four sites (one from each quadrant) in their mouths. The relative proportions of spirochaetes, motile rods and cocci were determined using dark field microscopy and the proportion of anaerobic to aerobic microorganisms was calculated after culture. In addition, clinical recordings were made at these sampled sites. The patients then underwent a course of periodontal treatment and were placed on a maintenance programme. The clinical recordings were repeated and the results examined to ascertain if the original microbiological or clinical measurements could have been used to predict the response to therapy. Of the baseline recordings, the initial probing depth, the initial attachment level and the presence of suppuration all showed a positive correlation with the degree of pocket reduction or attachment gain produced by treatment. The percentage of cocci in the subgingival plaque correlated negatively with the treatment response. Suppuration seemed to be associated primarily with the original pocket depth while the percentage of cocci in subgingival plaque showed a true relationship with the amount of attachment gained after periodontal therapy. The significance of this finding is discussed.

A systematic review on the use of residual probing depth, bleeding on probing and furcation status following initial periodontal therapy to predict further attachment and tooth loss

“…Reasons to exclude studies primarily selected. Columns A-I refer to the inclusion criteria Hirschfeld (1978) NO NO NO NO NO Slots (1985) NO NO Goodson (1985) NO NO Newcomb (1990) NO NO NO Claffey (1991) NO Mü ller (1993) NO NO NO NO NO Galgut (1995) NO Hou (1996) NO NO Haerian (1996) NO NO NO Renvert (1996) NO NO NO Machtei 1998 NO NO Knowles (1979) 'tooth loss' OR 'tooth mortality' OR extraction)).…”

Is Reduction of Pocket Probing Depth Correlated with the Baseline Value or is it “Mathematical Coupling”?

“…I n the periodontal literature, many studies have used correlation or regression to demonstrate that the treatment effect measured by the change of a clinical parameter-such as pocket probing depth, clinical attachment level, or gingival recession-is strongly associated with baseline values of the same parameter. There are many studies showing that the baseline value is a good indicator of the change following treatment (Newcomb and Nixon, 1990;Machtei et al, 1993Machtei et al, , 1994Selvig et al, 1993;Mora et al, 1996;Pini Prato et al, 1996;Falk et al, 1997;Mombelli et al, 1997). These studies, however, all have a common methodological weakness: They examine the correlation or the regression slope between a baseline variable prior to treatment and a derived variable based on the change between the respective pre-treatment and post-treatment values.…”