4. The effects of scaling and root planing and of systemic tetracycline therapy on subgingival microflora in patients with periodontal disease.

The article presents a study which examined whether a subgingival microflora associated with periodontal disease dominated by Gram-negative anaerobic organisms could be changed to a microflora dominated by Gram-positive organisms as found with a healthy periodontium. Two kinds of periodontal treatment were examined, conventional treatment with periodontal scaling and root planing, and conventional treatment plus a superimposed systemic tetracycline therapy. Three studies with different therapeutic regimes were initiated, which showed that the effect of systemic tetracycline therapy on the amount of supragingival plaque is of short-term duration.