Subgingival Air Polishing in Supportive Periodontal Therapy

a.lsfakia shared this article with you from Inoreader Retrospective Analysis of the Long Term Effect of Subgingival Air Polishing in Supportive Periodontal Therapy Via Journal of Clinical Periodontology Abstract Aim Glycine powder air polishing (GPAP) procedure has become popular. Aim of the analysis was to compare the clinical outcomes during supportive periodontal therapy (SPT) of subgingival application of GPAP with those using sole conventional mechanical debridement (SC). Material and Methods Over a median SPT period of 5.3 years (re‐evaluation through last observation), the GPAP‐cohort (n=263) received supra‐and subgingival biofilm removal with GPAP. Supragingival calculus was removed using curets and sonic scalers here. Patients in the SC‐cohort (n=264) were treated with sonic scalers, curets and rubber cup polishing only. Changes in i.e. pocket probing depth (PPD) and furcation involvement were assessed retrospectively. A bootstrapping equivalence testing method in line with the principle of the two one‐sided tests (TOST) procedure was used to compare clinical outcomes. Results The GPAP procedure was statistically equivalent to SC regarding the number of sites with stable PPDs (83.3%; IQR 68.8%, 91.0% vs. 84.0%; IQR 77.8%, 90.0%). However, in the GPAP‐cohort, a trend towards deterioration in furcation status (no equivalence) was noted. Conclusions In periodontal maintenance, the use of GPAP instead of mechanical plaque removal does not improve the clinical outcome. It seems to be contraindicated to treat furcation defects with GPAP only. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.