title: Should Antibiotics Be Prescribed to Treat Chronic Periodontitis?
abstract: Although scaling and root planing is a cost-effective approach for initial treatment of chronic periodontitis, it fails to eliminate subgingival pathogens and halt progressive attachment loss in some patients. Adjunctive use of systemic antibiotics immediately after completion of scaling and root planing can enhance the degree of clinical attachment gain and probing depth reduction provided by nonsurgical periodontal treatment. This article discusses the rationale for prescribing adjunctive antibiotics, reviews the evidence for their effectiveness, and outlines practical issues that should be considered before prescribing antibiotics to treat chronic periodontitis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, 3015 Postle Hall, 305 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: walters.2@osu.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.affiliation: Division of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, 3015 Postle Hall, 305 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Division of Biosciences, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, 3015 Postle Hall, 305 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Pin-Chuang
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018441:Biofilms; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D016745:Root Planing
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antimicrobials-systemic; Clinical trials; Oral biofilm; Periodontitis microbiology; Periodontitis therapy; Scaling and root planing