What Researchers Did
Researchers randomly divided sixty Chinese patients with aggressive periodontitis into groups receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy, scaling, a combination of both, or no treatment, to evaluate effects on clinical indices and subgingival anaerobes.
What They Found
Highly significant improvements (P<0.01) in gingival index, probing depth, attachment loss, plaque index, and tooth mobility were observed in the hyperbaric oxygen, scaling, and combined treatment groups compared to the control group. These three treatment groups also showed marked reductions in subgingival anaerobes, including obligate and facultative anaerobes and *Bacteroides melaninogenicus*. The combination of hyperbaric oxygen and scaling yielded statistically superior results compared to either treatment alone.
Canadian Relevance
This study was conducted exclusively on Chinese patients and has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
A limitation is that the study was conducted exclusively on Chinese patients, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations.