Long-term effects of supportive therapy in periodontal patients treated with fibre retention osseous resective surgery. I: Recurrence of pockets, bleeding on probing and tooth loss

Background: Periodontal surgery is indicated in the treatment of persistent pockets following cause-related therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effect of supportive therapy in periodontal patients treated with fibre retention osseous resective surgery. Methods: Three-hundred and four consecutive patients were identified and retrospectively examined while presenting for a supportive periodontal care (SPC) appointment (T2). All had received non-surgical periodontal treatment and osseous resective surgery as needed, to obtain no sites with probing depth (PD) > 3 mm before being enrolled in the SPC programme. The mean SPC duration for the patients was 7.8 ± 3.2 years while the mean interval of SPC was 3.4 ± 0.8 months. Results: During SPC, a total of 67 teeth had been removed (0.9%). At T2, mean full-mouth plaque scores (FMPS) was 13 ± 11.3% and full-mouth bleeding scores (FMBS) was 2 ± 3%. In 98.5% of the sites, PD was minimal (≤3 mm). The majority of pockets at T2 showed PDs of 4-5 mm (83.4% of pockets). At the same time, the total number of pockets ≥6mm was 68 and limited to 41 patients (13.8% of sample). Initial periodontal diagnosis of severe periodontitis, smoking habits, FMBS, number of teeth at completion of active periodontal therapy (T1), number of surgically treated teeth, number of teeth with furcation involvement and number of multi-rooted teeth were associated with the number of pockets at T2. A total of 598 sites (2.1%) displayed bleeding on probing (BOP) at T2. The odds ratio of sites 4 mm or deeper to be BOP positive was 32.9 compared with sites of <3mm depth. Gender, FMBS, FMPS, furcation involvements and overall number of pockets were associated with the number of bleeding pockets at T2. Conclusion: Shallow PDs achieved by treatment of the persistent pockets by fibre retention osseous resective surgery can be maintained over time. These patients displayed minimal gingival inflammation and tooth loss during SPC. © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard.