Incidence and magnitude of bacteraemia caused by flossing and by scaling and root planing

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

Taken in the round, this study does not challenge the NICE statement that 'everyday oral activity – regular toothbrushing – must represent a much greater risk of IE (infective endocarditis) than a single dental procedure'.

Main

Zhang W, Daly CG et al. J Clin Periodontol 2013; 40: 41–52

The NICE clinical guideline 64 has rescinded 'the requirement' for antibiotic prophylaxis for the prevention of IE. However, it should be noted that if a person at risk of IE is to receive antimicrobial therapy for a gastrointestinal or genitourinary procedure, then this should cover organisms that cause IE (recommendation number 1.1.6). In this study that recruited 30 patients with chronic periodontitis, there was no difference between the magnitude of total and viridans streptococcal bacteraemias after full-mouth flossing and after single quadrant scaling and root planing. But then it was reported in those with gingival inflammation (but not for other periodontal indices), that bacteraemias were significantly correlated with scaling and root planing but not with flossing.