Acupuncture: a unique effort to treat periodontal disease

Acupuncture, a technique for conscious sedation, was introduced as a modality for pain control in 1958 in the United States. It has been used to treat illnesses in Asia for more than 3,000 years.

This case report describes the use of acupuncture as a treatment for periodontal disease as prescribed and administered by a Korean practitioner. The patient was treated in 1991 by the insertion of multiple acupuncture needles in response to a diagnosis of "gum pain." Chronic, low-grade discomfort, diagnosed as a symptom of the disease, disappeared after the acupuncture treatment. The patient had minimal professional care in this country since the acupuncture therapy. She had experienced low-grade, but persistent, discomfort over the previous two years.

The oral diagnosis is moderate to advanced generalized chronic periodontitis with primary occlusal trauma. The present findings tend to implicate parafunction as the etiology for the current pain and perhaps the etiology for the discomfort experienced 10 years ago.