Clinical evaluation of the efficacy of Perioscan® on plaque-induced gingivitis in pediatric age

Background: Perioscan® is an ultrasonic dental scaler that informs the clinician, right during the treatment, of the location ofcalculus optically, and if desired, also through an acoustic signal.Material & Methods: This is a split mouth randomized clinical trial.The study population consists of 9 pediatric patients (from 9to 17 years) affected by gingivitis which were undergoing dental cures at the Unit of Operative and Pediatric Dentistry(Department of surgical Science for head and neck diseases) of “Agostino Gemelli” Teaching Hospital.All patients received a split mouth treatment with one quadrant of scaling involving Perioscan® (site-group 1), and the others withan ultrasonic conventional dental scaler (site-group 2). Patients were interviewed about the pain felt during the two professionaldental hygiene procedures. All participants were instructed to brush their teeth at least twice a day.Patients were clinically monitored at baseline and 8 weeks after initial therapy; probing pocket depth (PPD), plaque index (PI)and bleeding index (BI) were recorded at all times.Results: At week 8, in the entire oral cavity, there was a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) in all clinical parameterswhen compared to the baseline values, while no significant differences were found between sites-groups 1 and 2.There was significantly more intensity of pain reduction (p < 0.05) in the site-group 1.Conclusions: The results indicate that the efficacy of Perioscan® was similar to that of ultrasonic conventional dental scaler inimproving gingival conditions. Perioscan® revealed smaller injury potential, combined with a lower intensity of pain felt from thepatients than the conventional instruments. Thus Perioscan®, reducing or eliminating the pain during treatment, can be effectivein the treatment of pediatric patients, dental phobic or those particularly sensitive to pain.Keywords:, , ,.