Adjunctive periodontal therapies.

In general, systemic and local chemotherapeutic treatments offer a variety of options as adjuncts to traditional mechanical therapy, but they should not be used routinely for every patient. In fact, initial debridement to disrupt the biofilm and remove calculus prior to drug treatment may enhance results. Dentists will need to use their clinical judgment based on disease nature and severity to make treatment decisions, with the knowledge that these therapies may be best utilized in the few localized persistent lesions present following thorough scaling and root planing.