title: Post-treatment supportive care for the natural dentition and dental implants.
abstract: Long-term successful treatment of chronic periodontitis requires placement of patients on post-treatment recall programs known as either periodontal maintenance therapy or supportive periodontal therapy. Selection of the recall intervals must be based on the specific needs of individual patients. A single recall interval (e.g. 6 months) is not suitable for all patients. The main purpose of these programs is to prevent the recurrence of periodontitis. The components of every periodontal maintenance therapy program include: review of medical/dental histories; complete oral examination with an emphasis on the detection of gingival inflammation; establishing whether the maintenance program is working by monitoring clinical attachment levels; evaluation of oral hygiene; and full-mouth supragingival and subgingival debridement (i.e. biofilm removal). Long-term post-insertion care for dental implants also requires a similar patient-specific recall program of supportive implant therapy. The main purposes of a supportive implant therapy program are to maintain a healthy peri-implant mucosa and thereby prevent the development of peri-implantitis. In cases in which plaque-induced peri-implant mucositis has occurred, a well-designed supportive implant therapy program can help return the mucosa to a healthy state. At the current time there is no consensus on the optimal interventions for the treatment of peri-implant mucositis. However, all effective supportive implant therapy programs emphasize meticulous oral hygiene practices, careful peri-implant examination, thoughtful analysis of risk factors and periodic removal of microbial deposits from the implants.
authors.forename: Gary C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Armitage
authors.forename: Pinelopi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xenoudi
mesh_terms: D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000379:methods*; D015921:Dental Implants; D003817:Dentition; D006801:Humans; D057873:Peri-Implantitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants