Effect of Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy on Renal Function Among Pre-Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Background: Association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and periodontitis has been established. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) on renal function among pre-dialysis CKD patients. Methods: This is an intervention study involving 120 CKD participants. 60 CKD participants constituted the intervention group while 60 CKD participants constituted the control group. Blood samples were collected from all participants at baseline and after 3 months for the measurement of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and serum creatinine for the estimation of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Periodontal clinical examination was performed in all participants at six sites per tooth by the researcher for the measurement of Probing Pocket Depth (PPD) and Clinical Attachment Loss (CAL). The intervention group received NSPT (scaling and root planning) and oral hygiene motivation while the control group received only oral hygiene motivation only. Re-evaluation was done after 3 months. Results: In this study, three months post NSPT, PPD reduced from 5.44mm to 3.17mm (P < 0.01) and CAL from 6.29mm to 4.29mm (P < 0.01) in the intervention group. There was also a statistically significant reduction in the mean values of hsCRP and IL-6 at 3 months post NSPT in the intervention group (p<0.01). However, there was no reduction observed in the control group (p=0.59 and 0.66) respectively. Estimated GFR (eGFR) for the intervention group improved from 40.55 mL/min/1.73m2 to 43.22 mL/min/1.73m2 three months post NSPT (P < 0.01). Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential beneficial effects of NSPT on renal function among pre-dialysis CKD participants as estimated by improvement in eGFR.