Treatment paradigms in periodontal disease

The prevailing treatment paradigm in periodontal disease relies on debriding the tooth surfaces to keep the bacterial load below the level that triggers tissue loss. When debridement cannot be easily accomplished because of deep pocketing, access surgery is recommended. The debridement approach that involves access surgery is successful in 80% to 85% of patients. Patients who do not respond are often treated with systemic antibiotics. This paradigm, which is based on the nonspecific plaque hypothesis, is labor-intensive and relies on antibiotics only as a last resort. This nonspecific treatment paradigm is in contrast with the specific plaque hypothesis, which states that a limited number of bacterial species are specifically involved in most forms of periodontal disease. Some studies have significantly associated anaerobic bacteria with advanced forms of periodontal disease. These observations led us to hypothesize that most forms of periodontal disease are anaerobic infections, which can be treated by antimicrobials such as metronidazole or clindamycin. Three double-blind studies have shown that 1 to 2 weeks of unsupervised use of metronidazole-plus-debridement was significantly better than placebo-plus-debridement in reducing the need for periodontal surgery. These findings suggest that treatments based on the specific plaque hypothesis give clinicians and patients a choice regarding treatment options in periodontal disease.