Application of Periocheck to Periodontal Therapy. II. Comparison of Treatments after Gingival Curettage.

Periocheck(R) is a chairside colorimetric bacteriological diagnostic kit that measures peptidases from Treponema denticola, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Bacteroides forsythus. Fifty-eight periodontitis -affected sites (47 sites in posterior teeth , 11 sites in anterior teeth) in 31 patients showing Periocheck activity two weeks after gingival curettage were subjected to intrapocket antibiotic therapy (IPAT), gingival curettage or were left untreated. The IPAT sites were treated with Periocline(R) once a week for 4 weeks and the curettage sites were subjected to a second gingival curettage, while the control sites were left untreated. All sites were then subjected to Periocheck 6, 10, 14 and 18 weeks after treatment. The results at 18 weeks disclosed a smaller Periocheck-positive fraction at IPAT sites (27%) than after curettage (58%), coinciding with the occurrence of BOP. This demonstrates that IPAT is more effective than a curettage. Because Periocheck-positive fractions tended to increase during the period from 6 to 18 weeks, our findings underline the necessity of periodic postoperative bacteriological checking, in which Periocheck should be practical and useful.