Clinical efficacy evaluation of minimally invasive periodontal therapy assisted by endoscopy

To investigate the clinical effect of periodontal endoscope-assisted scaling and root planing (SRP) in treating advanced periodontitis.

Nineteen cases of grade Ⅲ and Ⅳ periodontitis selected from June 2017 to January 2019 in the Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University were divided into the periodontal endoscope and control groups. In the periodontal endoscope group, SRP was performed under a periodontal microscope in one treatment after initial supragingival scaling; in the control group, SRP was performed under regular conditions, and additional SRP was conducted in positive bleeding on probing sites twice every other week as needed. Periodontal status, including probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP) and attachment loss (AL), was recorded by a Florida probe.

For sites of 4＜PD ≤ 6 mm, there was no significant difference in PD-and BOP-positive rates or AL between the two groups at baseline. The PD-and BOP-positive rates and AL in the endoscope group and control group decreased significantly from baseline at 3 and 6 months. PD in the endoscope group was smaller than that in the control group at 3 months (P ＜ 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups at 6 months (P ＞0.05). There was no significant difference in the BOP positive rate or AL change between the two groups at 3 months and 6 months (P ＞ 0.05). For sites with PD ＞ 6 mm, at baseline, the positive rates of PD, BOP and AL in the endoscope group were more serious than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant. The PD-and BOP-positive rates and AL in the endoscope group and control group decreased significantly from baseline at 3 and 6 months. However, PD in the endoscope group became shallower than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05) after 3 and 6 months. There was no significant difference in the BOP positive rate or AL between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).

When compared to regular SRP, periodontal microscope-assisted SRP achieves better improvement in PD and is more beneficial for reducing the BOP and AL of deeper sites.