Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the treatment of severe cases of periodontitis.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) in the treatment of severe cases of chronic periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 20 patients diagnosed with severe generalized chronic periodontitis (pockets greater than 7mm) with bleeding on probing, SRP was rendered in all pockets. Additionally, five consecutive hyperbaric sessions were administered in 10 patients after random allocation (SRP + HBO2). Clinical parameters were assessed at baseline up to six months: plaque index, bleeding on probing, probing depth, clinical attachment level and benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide (BANA) test. RESULTS: SRP + HBO2 resulted in greater probing reduction and attachment gain than SRP alone three months after treatment (p less than 0.001). The BANA test was negative after one week only for sites in the SRP + HBO2 group (p less than 0.05). However, SRP + HBO2 failed to show a significant difference from SRP group after 3 months, where all BANA sites became negative (p greater than 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that hyperbaric oxygen therapy had a short-term beneficial effect on pocket reduction and bacterial elimination, and may be considered a potential adjunct therapeutic option to improve the clinical outcomes of scaling in severe cases of chronic periodontitis.