The American Dental Association Releases Guideline on Gum Disease Treatment

Dentists treating patients with chronic periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease that can lead to tooth loss, are advised to use scaling and root planing (SRP), deep cleaning of the teeth, as initial treatment, according to new guidelines from the American Dental Association (ADA). The guidelines, based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of treatment of periodontitis, were published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA).

“This is the first time the various treatments of periodontitis have been compared side-by-side,” said ADA President and periodontist Maxine Feinberg, D.D.S. “Dentists are often challenged with managing gum disease of varying severity; these guidelines will assist practitioners in their decision-making and ultimately help patients receive the right treatment at the right time.”

According to the authors, chronic periodontitis is a prevalent condition, affecting 47.2 percent of the adult U.S. population aged 30 years or older. It is a major cause of tooth loss in adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Periodontology, the prevalence of moderate and severe periodontitis are estimated at 30 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively, among adults.

In 2011, the ADA resolved to develop a clinical practice guideline on nonsurgical treatments including SRP. SRP is the process by which dentists remove tartar and plaque that attach to the tooth surfaces. Based on a review of the evidence, the ADA concluded that clinicians should consider SRP as the initial treatment for patients with chronic periodontitis. Other treatments combined with SRP were examined, including systemic subantimicrobial-dose doxycycline (SDD), systemic antimicrobials and lasers. The sub-antimicrobial dose doxycycline (Periostat) was a stronger recommendation than other systemic antimicrobials/antibiotics because of concerns of side effects and overprescribing.

For more information, read the guideline and the systematic review.

For more information, please visit: www.ada.org or follow us on Twitter ADA: @AmerDentalAssn.

About the American Dental Association
The not-for-profit ADA is the nation’s largest dental association, representing more than 158,000 dentist members. The premier source of oral health information, the ADA has advocated for the public’s health and promoted the art and science of dentistry since 1859. The ADA’s state-of-the-art research facilities develop and test dental products and materials that have advanced the practice of dentistry and made the patient experience more positive. The ADA Seal of Acceptance long has been a valuable and respected guide to consumer dental care products. The monthly The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) is the ADA’s flagship publication and the best-read scientific journal in dentistry. For more information about the ADA, visit ada.org. For more information on oral health, including prevention, care and treatment of dental disease, visit the ADA’s consumer websiteMouthHealthy.org.

RELATED NEWS

RESOURCES