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Summary Background Chronic inflammation is believed to be a major mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Periodontitis is a cause of systemic inflammation. We aimed to assess the effects of periodontal treatment on glycaemic control in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods In this 12 month, single-centre, parallel-group, investigator-masked, randomised trial, we recruited patients with type 2 diabetes, moderate-to-severe periodontitis, and at least 15 teeth from four local hospitals and 15 medical or dental practices in the UK. We randomly assigned patients (1:1) using a computer-generated table to receive intensive periodontal treatment (IPT; whole mouth subgingival scaling, surgical periodontal therapy [if the participants showed good oral hygiene practice; otherwise dental cleaning again], and supportive periodontal therapy every 3 months until completion of the study) or control periodontal treatment (CPT; supra-gingival scaling and polishing at the same timepoints as in the IPT group). Treatment allocation included a process of minimisation in terms of diabetes onset, smoking status, sex, and periodontitis severity. Allocation to treatment was concealed in an opaque envelope and revealed to the clinician on the day of first treatment. With the exception of dental staff who performed the treatment and clinical examinations, all study investigators were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was between-group difference in HbA 1c at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN83229304. Findings Between Oct 1, 2008, and Oct 31, 2012, we randomly assigned 264 patients to IPT (n=133) or CPT (n=131), all of whom were included in the intention-to-treat population. At baseline, mean HbA 1c was 8·1% (SD 1·7) in both groups. After 12 months, unadjusted mean HbA 1c was 8·3% (SE 0·2) in the CPT group and 7·8% (0·2) in the IPT group; with adjustment for baseline HbA 1c , age, sex, ethnicity, smoking status, duration of diabetes, and BMI, HbA 1c was 0·6% (95% CI 0·3–0·9; p Interpretation Compared with CPT, IPT reduced HbA 1c in patients with type 2 diabetes and moderate-to-severe periodontitis after 12 months. These results suggest that routine oral health assessment and treatment of periodontitis could be important for effective management of type 2 diabetes. Funding Diabetes UK and UK National Institute for Health Research.

To systematically review the evidence for efficacy of guided tissue regeneration (GTR) for infrabony defects.The evidence for the efficacy of GTR has not yet been systematically appraised.We searched for randomised controlled trials of at least 12 months' follow-up comparing GTR with open flap debridement (OFD). Data sources included electronic databases, hand-searched journals and contact with experts. Screening, data abstraction and quality assessment were conducted independently by multiple reviewers. The primary outcome measure was gain in clinical attachment.For attachment level change, the weighted mean difference between GTR alone and open flap debridement was 1.11 mm (95% CI: 0.63-1.59), chi-square for heterogeneity 31.4 (9 df ), P0.001) and for GTR + bone substitutes was 1.25 mm (95% CI: 0.89-1.61, chi-square for heterogeneity 0.01 (1 df), P = 0.91). The number of sites needed to treat (NNT) for GTR to achieve one extra site gaining 2 mm or more attachment over open flap debridement was 8 (95% CI: 4-33). Heterogeneity between studies was highly statistically significant for all principal comparisons and could not be explained satisfactorily by sensitivity analyses.Overall, GTR was more effective than OFD in improving attachment levels. However, there was marked variability between studies and general conclusions about the clinical benefit of GTR are limited by this heterogeneity. Future studies should aim to identify factors associated with achieving consistent benefits over open flap debridement. Open flap surgery should remain the control comparison in these studies.

Take two dentists, whose practices are about as different as they could possibly be, who both have a healthy respect for root caries. Our paper will start by describing these two practices and then review the literature to show what is known about the management of root caries. The paper ends by returning to the two dentists, who describe how the research reviewed in the literature may affect their work.

The effect of a 5-day course of systemic metronidazole was investigated in 11 recall maintenance patients over a period of 3 months. Crevicular fluid flow, bleeding on probing, pocket depth, and composition of the subgingival microbiota as observed by dark-field microscopy, were measured. The study design allowed patients to act as their own controls. At baseline 1 (day 0), each patient had a randomly assigned quadrant scaled and root-planed, and received oral hygiene instruction. Microbiological and clinical parameters were measured at baseline 1 (before treatment) and at 3, 6, and 12 weeks in both the root-planed and a designated no-treatment quadrant. At baseline 2 (12 weeks), the contralateral quadrant was scaled and root-planed, and the oral hygiene instruction was reinforced. At this appointment, each patient was given 15 metronidazole tablets (250 mg), 1 to be taken 3 times per day for 5 days. At the end of this period, patients were seen 1–2 h after taking their last tablet, and blood and crevicular fluid samples were taken lo determine the concentration of metronidazole by microbiological assay in the serum and crevicular fluid. Microbiological and clinical parameters were measucd at baseline 2 (before treatment) and at 13, 15, 18, and 24 weeks in both the root-planed and designated non-root-planed (metronidazole only) quadrants. Results demonstrated, that in this group of recall maintenance patients, metronidazole was no more effective than root-planing alone in reducing the relative % of total motile organisms and spirochetes in 5–8 mm pockets. Crevicular fluid flow was, however, significantly reduced for 11 weeks; serum and crevicular fluid levels of metronidazole were similar 1 to 2 h after drug ingestion.