Relative influence of plaque control, scaling and root planing on occlusal sounds

Nine periodontally affected subjects and eight healthy subjects were selected in order to examine the effect of initial periodontal treatment on occlusal sounds. Gingival Index, probing depth, tooth mobility and occlusal sound duration via an occlusal sound analyser were recorded at the baseline. The nine periodontal patients were then treated by plaque control, root planing with general scaling and were re-examined at 1 month and 3 months post-operatively. The following results were obtained: (i) The normal duration of an occlusal sound is less than 10 ms. (ii) Occlusal sounds of periodontal patients were of longer duration compared with values in healthy subjects, but decreased and approached the normal value after treatment.