Antibiotics in Periodontics: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Periodontitis, a multifaceted disease, is a chronic biofilm-induced inflammatory condition which leads to the destruction of the periodontal apparatus [1-3]. “Scaling and root planning” constitutes the bulk of the periodontal therapeutic intervention but this mechanical periodontal treatment alone may not always be beneficial alone in complex and difficult anatomical situations such as deep pockets and furcation defects [4-6]. So, along with mechanical debridement, treatment regimens employing antibiotics and antiseptics, as well as antibacterial agents, are more effective than mechanical debridement alone. Antibiotics can be given locally or systemically. Numerous investigations have suggested that periodontitis patients can benefit from receiving systemic antibiotics [7-10]. Systemic antibiotics, such as amoxicillin (with or without clavulanic acid) [11-13], azithromycin [14, 15] clindamycin [16], doxycycline [17], metronidazole [12, 16], tetracycline [17], and certain combinations of these are some of the therapy options [17, 19, 20]. However, there is a complete paradigm shift in the modern era regarding this concept.