Comparative evaluation of treatment outcomes in patients with Aggressive Periodontitis undergoing conventional therapy with and without adjunctive submicrobial dose of doxycycline – A clinical study

Host modulatory therapies can be an effective modality of intervention in periodontal diseases as one of the adjunctive treatment options. This clinical study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of sub microbial dose of Doxycycline (SDD) 20mg twice daily, as an adjunct to periodontal surgery in patients with generalised aggressive periodontitis (GAP). To assess the changes in probing pocket depth (PD) & clinical attachment level (CAL). The study population included patients registering at the OPD, Department of Periodontics. A total of 60 patients with GAP were selected for the study, who were equally divided into two groups A & B. Group A, placed on SDD 20mg twice a day for 09 months immediately after scaling and root planing (SRP) followed by periodontal surgery. Group B treated with SRP & periodontal surgery. The parameters like PD, CAL, BOP, gingival index & oral hygiene index-simplified were recorded at baseline and post-operative 90, 180 & 270 days. The inter-group comparison of probing PD & CAL values revealed a statistically highly significant difference between group A & group B at 90, 180 and 270 days post-operatively with ‘p’ value = 0.000 & 0.067 respectively, but insignificant changes in other parameters. The Reduction in PD and CAL improvements were significantly greater in group A with adjunctive SDD than for the group B. Thus, adjunctive treatment with SDD was shown to augment the clinical attachment gains achieved by periodontal surgery.