Effectiveness of tetracycline fibers as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in chronic periodontitis.

Chronic periodontitis remains highly prevalent and scaling and root planing alone may be insufficient to achieve optimal clinical improvement at moderate periodontal pocket depths. Therefore, it is of interest to clinical efficacy of scaling and root planing alone with scaling and root planing combined with tetracycline-impregnated collagen fibers in patients with chronic periodontitis. Thirty patients (60 sites) with probing depths of 4-7 mm were treated using a split-mouth design and plaque index, gingival index, probing depth and clinical attachment level were recorded at baseline and follow-up. Both groups showed significant improvement in clinical parameters, with the test group demonstrating greater probing depth reduction and clinical attachment gain at 90 days compared to controls. Adjunctive use of tetracycline-impregnated collagen fibers enhanced the clinical outcomes of scaling and root planing in the short-term management of chronic periodontitis.