Effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy in an undergraduate dental clinic. Results one year following treatment.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of non-surgical treatment of moderately to severely advanced periodontitis in patients at the Department of Periodontology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The patients were treated by senior students of the Dental School under the supervision of specialized personnel. The conservative treatment consisted of oral hygiene instructions and repeated instrumentation (scaling and root planing) for a period of about 3 months. Seventeen patients with advanced periodontitis participated in the study. The following data were recorded: 1. Gingival index (Silness and Löe, 1963), 2. Plaque index (Löe and Silness 1964), 3. Bleeding on probing and 4. Pocket depth and probing attachment level. The measurements were taken by the same examiner four times, that is at baseline, immediately after completion of the conservative therapy, 6 months and 12 months after treatment. Measurements from single and multi-rooted teeth were divided into three groups with respect to the initial pocket depth (less than or equal to 3 mm, 4-6 mm, greater than or equal to 7 mm). The findings of the present study demonstrated that non-surgical therapy can achieved a marked reduction in bleeding on probing scores and pocket depth 12 months after treatment. A gain in probing attachment levels was found for sites with initially deep (greater than or equal to 7 mm) and moderate (4-6 mm) pockets, while in sites with initially shallow pockets (less than or equal to 3.0 mm), a loss of attachment level was established.