Conditions: Periodontitis Periodontal Diseases
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 146
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine in current and non-smokers the clinical and microbiological effects of 3 therapies: scaling and root planing (SRP) alone; SRP in combination with the orally administered antibiotic metronidazole; and SRP with the orally administered antibiotics metronidazole and amoxicillin along with the locally delivered antibiotic doxycycline at periodontal pockets \>= 4 mm.

Detailed description:
Cigarette smokers have more severe periodontal disease and more widespread colonization by periodontal pathogens than non smokers. In addition, smokers respond less well to periodontal therapies, particularly mechanical therapies such as scaling and root planing (SRP) and surgery. Recent data from our laboratory have indicated that treatment that included antibiotics produced a better clinical effect in smokers than mechanical therapy alone. Thus, the purpose of the present investigation is to compare the immediate and long-term effects of 3 periodontal therapies on clinical, microbiological and host parameters in current and non smokers. In this double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study, 108 current smokers and 108 non smokers will be randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: SRP alone; SRP + systemically administered metronidazole; SRP + systemically administered amoxicillin and metronidazole and local delivery of doxycycline at pockets \> 4 mm. Plaque Index, Gingival Index, % of sites with bleeding on probing, suppuration, pocket depth and attachment level will be measured at 6 sites per tooth at all teeth excluding 3rd molars at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Subgingival plaque samples taken from the mesial aspect of each tooth at the same time points will be analyzed individually for their content of 40 subgingival species using checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization. Antibody levels to 20 subgingival species will be measured in serum samples taken at baseline, 6 and 24 months. Levels of IL-1b, IL-10 and IFNg will be measured in GCF samples taken from the 4 deepest pockets at baseline, 3, 6 and 24 months. The major hypothesis to be tested is whether smokers respond better to periodontal therapies that include 1 or more antibiotics. Other hypotheses will test whether host and microbiological parameters differ between smokers and non smokers and if such parameters are comparably altered after therapy in both groups. The results will be of immediate clinical benefit to the large segment of periodontal patients who smoke cigarettes. Smokers make up 26 - 30% of the adult population and form a disproportionately high segment of the population requiring periodontal treatment. They may have special needs in terms of periodontal therapy which should be clarified by the proposed investigation. In addition, the cigarette smoker is an example of a periodontal patient who is "compromised" in terms of his/her ability to cope with infectious diseases. The proposed investigation should provide a model to examine methods that could be useful in treating compromised patients whether compromised by harmful habits such as smoking, systemic disease or genetic background.

Arms:
arm 1: Full mouth scaling and root planing (SRP) alone plus a placebo pill taken twice daily for 2 weeks. arm 2: Full mouth Scaling and Root Planing plus Metronidazole (MET) 250 mg tid x 14 days arm 3: Full mouth Scaling and Root Planing plus Metronidazole (MET) 250 mg tid x 14 d and Amoxicillin (AMOX) 500 mg tid for 14 days and local drug delivery of Doxycycline (TET LDD) in pockets \>4mm

Interventions: intervention 1: Scaling and root planing intervention 2: Metronidazole intervention 3: Amoxicillin intervention 4: Doxycycline
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Scaling and root planning (SRP) is the mechanical debridement of the tooth and root surfaces and is standard of care in periodontal therapy. intervention 2: Metronidazole (MET) is an antibiotic that is particularly effective against Gram negative bacterial species. The dose for this study is: 250 mg tid x 14d. intervention 3: Amoxicillin (AMOX) is a broad spectrum antibiotic and was prescribed at 500 mg tid for 14d. intervention 4: The ATRIDOX (doxycycline hyclate) ® product is a subgingival controlled-release product composed of a two syringe mixing system. Syringe A contains 450 mg of the ATRIGEL® Delivery System, which is a bioabsorbable, flowable polymeric formulation composed of 36.7% poly(DLlactide) (PLA) dissolved in 63.3% N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Syringe B contains 50 mg of doxycycline hyclate which is equivalent to 42.5 mg doxycycline. The constituted product is a pale yellow to yellow viscous liquid with a concentration of 10% of doxycycline hyclate. Upon contact with the crevicular fluid, the liquid product solidifies and then allows for controlled release of drug for a period of 7 days. Doxycycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic synthetically derived from oxytetracycline.

Protocol document: