Abstract / Summary
Aims: To substantiate the effectiveness of shortened outreach periodontal therapy in nursing home residents with periodontitis, we evaluated additional professional brushing every two weeks in a prospective extension study using historical comparison groups from a previously published randomized controlled trial.
Methods and results: Participants receiving shortened outreach periodontal therapy with additional professional brushing every two weeks (intervention with brushing, IWB) were prospectively enrolled and compared with historical participants from a previously published randomized trial, including an intervention-only group (IO) and untreated controls.
Primary outcome: bleeding on probing (BOP); secondary outcomes: plaque index (PI), probing pocket depth (PPD). Assessments were made at baseline and three months. Fifty-four participants (18 per group) were included. At three months, only IWB reduced BOP compared with baseline (ΔBOP -20 ± 20 percentage points; p = 0.002), with greater reductions than controls (p < 0.001) but not IO (p = 0.203). Both PI and PPD decreased with IWB (p = 0.005 and p = 0.001 vs. baseline, respectively) and IO (p = 0.014 and p = 0.005), but not in controls. The reduction in PPD (but not PI) was greater with IWB and IO than in controls (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Additional professional brushing every two weeks provided clinical benefits beyond shortened outreach periodontal therapy, particularly regarding periodontal inflammation, but did not fully compensate for inadequate daily oral hygiene.
Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), registration number DRKS00029392.