Two-year follow-up of the outcomes of endoscope-assisted minimally invasive nonsurgical periodontal therapy for deep intrabony defects

To explore the clinical efficacy and imaging changes of minimally invasive nonsurgical periodontal therapy (MINST) assisted by endoscopy for deep intrabony defects and to compare its effectiveness with that of traditional scaling and root planning (SRP) to therefore provide a reference for clinical periodontal treatment.

Patients with deep intrabony defects ≥ 4 mm in size were selected and divided into two groups: the MINST (MINST, 20 cases, 81 sites) group and the classic scaling and root planing (SRP, 20 cases, 80 sites) group. Before treatment and 12 and 24 months after treatment, probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) were examined. Moreover, changes in the depth and angle of the intrabony defects were analyzed. Follow-up examination and maintenance treatment should be conducted every 3 months for 12 months after the initial treatment and every 6 months thereafter until 24 months.

The PD and CAL of patients in both groups continued to decrease (P＜0.001), and imaging examinations revealed a decrease in defect depth and an increase in intrabony defect angle (P＜0.001). The changes in the first 12 months were significantly greater than those in the last 12 months in both groups (P＜0.001). The decreases in PD, CAL, and depth of intrabony defects and increase in angle in the MINST group were significantly greater than those in the SRP group (P＜0.001). At 12 and 24 months after treatment, the PD and CAL in the MINST group were lower than those in the SRP group (P＜0.001). The defect height of the MINST group decreased more than that of the SRP group (P＜0.001), and the defect angle of the MINST group increased more than that of the SRP group (P＜0.001).

Minimally invasive nonsurgical periodontal therapy can significantly promote the healing of deep intrabony defects and the regeneration of alveolar bone. Imaging reflects that alveolar bone healing is rapid at first and then slows. Compared with traditional SRP, endoscopically assisted MINST can yield better clinical indicators and imaging changes in intrabony defects.