One‐stage full‐mouth disinfection versus quadrant and full‐mouth root planing

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the one‐stage full‐mouth disinfection (FMD) provides greater clinical and microbiological improvement compared with full‐mouth scaling and root planing (FM‐SRP) within 24 h and quadrant scaling and root planing (Q‐SRP) in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis. Material & Methods: Twenty‐eight patients were randomized into three groups. 25 patients completed the study and were the basis for analysis. The Q‐SRP group was scaled quadrant‐wise at 1‐week intervals. The other groups received a one‐stage full‐mouth scaling with (FMD) and without (FM‐SRP) chlorhexidine. At baseline, after 1, 2, 4 and 8 months clinical parameters were recorded and microbiological analysis was performed. Results: All three treatment modalities resulted in significant clinical improvement at any time. There were only group differences after 1 and 2 months: in the FM‐SRP group was a significantly higher reduction of probing depth and bleeding on probing compared with the other two groups. The bacteria could be reduced in every group although this reduction was only significant for Prevotella intermedia in the FMD group 8 months after treatment. Conclusion: All three treatment modalities lead to an improvement of the clinical and microbiological parameters, however, without significant group differences after 8 months.