Periodontal healing after treatment with either the Titan-S sonic scaler or hand instruments

Several types of air turbine scalers have recently been introduced as an alternative to ultrasonic equipment in periodontal therapy. The aim of this investigation was to compare clinical, periodontal healing after scaling with the Titan S air turbine scaler and hand instruments. Twelve patients referred to the School of Dental Hygiene, Jönköping, Sweden, for treatment of moderately advanced periodontitis participated in the study. After examination, diagnosis, treatment planning, and information, the teeth of the left and right quadrants were randomly assigned to Titan S or hand instruments scaling ("split mouth design"). The treatment was given by 6 dental hygiene students. Final re-examination was performed 3 months after instrumentation. After treatment, a marked improvement of periodontal conditions, expressed as number of tooth surfaces with plaque, number of sites with probing pocket depth greater than or equal to 4 mm and percentage of sites showing bleeding on probing to the bottom of the pocket, was obtained. No difference in results was observed when comparing Titan S and hand instrumentation. The time required for instrumentation was, however, shorter for Titan S than for hand instruments. Based on the results of this study, it may be concluded that, in patients with moderately advanced periodontitis, periodontal healing after scaling with the Titan S and hand instruments is comparable.