Clinical attachment loss produced by curettes and periodontal files

The aim of this study was to clinically evaluate the effect of immediate trauma from instrumentation after scaling and root planing with different instruments. Ten subjects with moderate chronic periodontitis, presenting probing depths of 3.5-6.5mm on anterior teeth, maxillary and/or mandibular, were selected. Teeth were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: PF group - scaled and planed with Hirschfeld periodontal files; CC group - scaled and planed with Gracey conventional curettes. The selected teeth were probed with a computerised electronic probe, guided by an occlusal stent and subjected to scaling and root planing. Immediately following instrumentation, teeth were probed again. The difference between relative attachment level (RAL) immediately before and after instrumentation was considered as trauma from instrumentation. Intra-group analysis revealed statistically significant differences between RAL immediately before and after instrumentation in both groups (1.28 +/- 1.13 for PF group; and 0.83 +/- 0.41 for CC group - p<0.05). However, inter-group analysis did not show statistically significant difference in trauma from instrumentation caused by the different instruments (p=0.063). Within the limits of this study, it was concluded that root instrumentation causes a mean immediate attachment loss of 1.06mm, with no differences between instrumentation with periodontal curettes or periodontal files.