A Clinical Study of Combined Systemic Co-Amoxiclave and Metronidazole as Adjuncts to Periodontal Surgery in the Treatment of Advanced Periodontal Disease

Mechanical surgical treatments of periodontal pockets are usually effective in arresting the progression of the disease .The aim of present investigation was to determine if the simultaneous administration of systemic amoxicillin, clavulanic acid and metronidazole as adjunct to periodontal pocket surgery.Fifty patients with advanced chronic periodontal lesions took part in this study of which 36 completed the study Only at the first surgical visit, the patients in test group received co-amoxiclav 625mg tablets tid for one week plus metronidazole 250mg tablets for one week. The control group received amoxicillin 500 mg capsules tid for one week. Before the first surgical visit, and 6 weeks after the last surgical visit, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level and bleeding on probing were measured by a single examiner The difference between the probing pocket depth reductions of the 2 groups was not statistically significant (p=0.59). The difference between the attachment gains of the 2 groups was not statistically significant (p=0.58). The difference between BOP reductions of the 2 group was not significant (p=0.75).It was concluded from this study that the addition of clavulanic acid and metronidazole, provided no additional improvement beyond that could be achieved by periodontal surgical debridement plus amoxicillin.