Efficacy of One Stage Full Mouth Disinfection on the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Generalised Chronic Periodontitis

Introduction: Intraoral translocation of periodontal pathogens from untreated intraoral niches can lead to recolonisation and reinfection of recently treated periodontal pockets. Poor oral health hampers the patient’s Quality of Life (QoL) as it causes social isolation, inferiority and the development of psychiatric conditions. Full Mouth Disinfection (FMD) performed within 24 hours using chlorhexidine has reported significant improvements in clinical, microbiological and psychological parameters when compared to conventional periodontal treatment.

Aim: To investigate the long-term effect of FMD on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) in patients with generalised chronic periodontitis.

Materials and Methods: This study was a prospective clinical study conducted in the Department of Periodontology, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India, from October 2019 to December 2021. Study consisted of 60 participants who were allotted into two groups; 30 periodontally healthy volunteers (control group) and 30 patients (test group) diagnosed with generalised chronic periodontitis. The test group was asked to fill out the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire to assess the OHRQoL at baseline followed by FMD protocol. All the patients were kept at periodic recall, and the OHRQoL was assessed again taken after one month, three months, and six months. The control group was asked to fill out the questionnaire at the baseline. Repeated measure analysis of variance with post-hoc bonferroni test was used to compare differences in variation present from baseline to one month, three months and six months. For intergroup comparison at different time intervals, an unpaired t-test was applied.

Results: The age group of participants ranged from 25-55 years with a mean age of 41.3 years. Test group had 18 males and 12 females and, 20 males and 10 females were in the control group. The mean OHIP-14 score at baseline was 3.58±3.29 in the control group and 42.35±4.32 in the test group at baseline, showing a mean difference of -38.76±0.93, which was statistically significant. After one month there was a significant improvement in the OHIP-14 scores of the test group (26.35±2.60), which was further reduced to 17.17±3.41 and 12.5±3.93 by the end of three and six months. Therefore, a notable improvement in the QoL and periodontal conditions of the patients following FMD was appreciated.

Conclusion: Periodontitis negatively impacts the OHRQoL. FMD provides an improvement in the perceived QoL among periodontitis patients.