Periodontal therapy improves gastric Helicobacter pylori eradication

The oral cavity has been proposed as a reservoir for H. pylori that could be responsible for the refractoriness of gastric infection to triple therapy (antibiotics, antimicrobials, and proton pump inhibitors). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of combined periodontal and triple therapy vs. triple therapy alone, in gastric H. pylori eradication in persons with H. pylori in the subgingival biofilm. Individuals positive for H. pylori in their gastric and oral samples, as determined by nested PCR, were treated either with periodontal and triple therapy or with triple therapy alone. Our results indicate that 77.3% of those treated with the combined therapy exhibited successful eradication of gastric H. pylori, compared with 47.6% who underwent only triple therapy. Analysis of these data suggests that periodontal treatment in combination with systemic therapy could be a promising approach to increasing the therapy's efficacy and decreasing the risk of infection recurrence.