Effect of antibiotics as an adjuvant to subgingival instrumentation on systemic inflammation in patients with periodontitis: a randomized clinical trial.

This article focuses on a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of systemic antibiotics as an adjunct to subgingival instrumentation (SI) on systemic inflammation in patients with stage III periodontitis. Forty-eight periodontitis patients were randomized to receive either SI alone or SI combined with a 7-day course of systemic amoxicillin and metronidazole, with periodontal and systemic inflammatory parameters—including serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and hematologic markers—assessed at baseline and 8 weeks post-treatment. Results showed that while both treatments improved periodontal parameters, systemic antibiotics did not provide additional benefit in reducing systemic inflammation or hematologic markers compared to SI alone, despite a greater reduction in probing pocket depth in the antibiotic group. The study concludes that adjunctive systemic antibiotics do not significantly enhance the resolution of systemic inflammation in periodontitis patients beyond the effects of SI.