Assessment of efficacy of chlorhexidine chip as an adjunct to scaling and root planning using N-benzoylDL-arginine-2-naphthylamide test kit

Abstract

Background: With increasing advances in the field of medicine, diagnosing a disease has been an easy task and periodontitis is no exception to this. N-benzoyl-DL-arginine-2-naphthylamide (BANA) test is a modern chair-side paraclinical method designed to detect the presence of one or more anaerobic bacteria commonly associated with periodontal disease, namely Treponema denticola, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Tannerella forsythia in subgingival plaque samples taken from periodontally diseased teeth. Aim:The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of chlorhexidine chip as an adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP), using BANA Test Kit. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 chronic periodontitis patients (aged 35–55 years) having pocket depth of ≥5 mm in molar teeth were selected and randomly divided into following treatment groups: Group I: SRP and Group II: SRP along with chlorhexidine chip. The clinical and microbial parameters were recorded at baseline and 1 and 3 months post-treatment. BANA chairside test was used for estimation of specific microbiota. Statistical analysis used: Mann–Whitney test, Wilcoxon signed test, t-test, Pearson’s Chi-square test, and variability test were used. Results: Plaque index, modified bleeding index, probing pocket depth, and clinical attachment level scores in selected teeth within the groups at different time intervals were highly significant (P < 0.001) after the 3rd month. Although the comparison between groups for specific microbiota in selected sites at different intervals was not statistically significant at baseline and 1 month, it reached statistical significance at the 3rd-month post-treatment, and significant reductions in percentage of BANA positive sites were observed in both groups, Group II had significantly greater percentage of BANA negative sites. Conclusion: Local drug delivery using chlorhexidine chip enhances the benefit of SRP in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.