Full-mouth Re-evaluation Outcomes of Non-surgical Periodontal Therapy in Saudi Population

Objectives: To assess short-term outcomes of non-surgical periodontal therapy among Saudi and non-Saudi patients undergoing periodontal therapy at a teaching hospital.
Methods: 202 Saudi and non-Saudi patients (78 females; 119 males; Saudis 57% (117); non-Saudis 42.1% (85) attending periodontal clinics of the College of Dentistry hospital at the IAU, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, were clinically evaluated at baseline and six weeks after non-surgical periodontal therapy. The mean age of patients was 43.65±12.12 years.

Results: Most of the studied population belonged to low socioeconomic levels. Almost twenty one percent (21.4%) of treated patients were diabetic and 27.4 percent were smokers. Full mouth plaque score was reduced by 35% and bleeding on probing (BOP) decreased by 45.5%. Initial mean pocket depth (PD) of 1.92 ± 0.61 mm significantly decreased to 1.74 ± 0.55 mm after treatment (p=0.001). Mean number of teeth with BOP before treatment (12.08 ± 6.02) was significantly higher than after treatment (7.84 ± 5.34) (p=0.001). Baseline data showed no significant differences in mean PD between Saudi patients (1.98 ± 0.62 mm) and non-Saudi patients (1.84 ± 0.59 mm) (p=0.111). After treatment, a significant reduction in mean PD was observed in non-Saudi patients (1.64 ± 0.5 mm) as compared to Saudi patients (1.81 ± 0.59 mm) (p=0.033).
Almost 90% of the patient population were regular toothbrush users, interdental aids were used by 18% and 16.5% were miswak users. All results were statistically significant (p<0.05). SPSS version 22 was used for descriptive and analytical statistical analyses.

Conclusions: The study demonstrated a significant reduction in mean PD and BOP in all patients. Non-Saudi patients showed a significantly greater reduction in mean PD as compared to Saudi patients. There was an overall improvement in plaque score. Further studies are needed to compare Saudi and non-Saudi populations, for both short- and long-term maintenance visits.