Brenna Harrington
Tahina Mukit
| Brenna Harrington | Tahina Mukit |
Tahina Mukit
Yu-Cheng Chang
Periodontics, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Introduction
Osseous surgery has been a fundamental pillar of treatment for patients diagnosed with periodontal disease. This pocket reduction surgery removes the diseased bone and soft tissue for better maintenance of compromised areas. This study reviewed data collected in a dental school setting as compared to a faculty practice for patients who underwent osseous surgery between 2017-2021. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the efficacy of osseous surgery in a dental school setting and, more specifically, to evaluate the influence of gender and systemic conditions on post-operative probing depths.
Methods
This retrospective study utilized data collected from approximately 1000 teeth in the Penn Dental Faculty Practice and Penn Dental Postgraduate Clinic. Charts were reviewed for the surgical site, probing depths, and maintenance period. Information was also collected regarding the patient’s age, gender, smoking habits, and health history. Descriptive statistics were run to analyze the data for correlations and significant changes. Patients were excluded from the review if no follow-up visit was documented. Chi-squared tests were used to compare relationships between two independent variables, and t-tests were used to analyze significance.
Results
Post-operative probing depths were evaluated dependent on gender, clinic setting, and various systemic diseases. Regarding the clinic setting, decreased pocket depths were observed in both the PG Periodontal clinic and Faculty Practice (PDFP). Regarding gender, female patients have shown a more consistent reduction in pocket depth following osseous surgery from the first to fourth follow-up appointment as opposed to male patients. Most notably, patients who smoked showed a more significant reduction in pocket depth at the initial follow-up and later trend to match non-smoking patients at the fifth follow-up appointment. No significant trend was observed when comparing diabetes, heart disease, and drug allergies.
Conclusion
Osseous surgery is a predictable treatment for periodontal pocket reduction in both resident and faculty clinical settings. While data indicated differences according to patient gender and smoking habits in early post-operative follow-up appointments, by the 5th follow-up visit, the differences between these groups were negligible.