The effect of scaling and root planning on the periodontal condition in hemodialysis patients: A clinical trial study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Periodontitis is very common in kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis. The two diseases interact with each other so that kidney failure exacerbates periodontal disease and periodontal disease increases the severity of the renal failure. This study aimed to compare the effect of scaling and root planning on the periodontal status of hemodialysis patients and the healthy control group. METHODS: A clinical trial study of 60 subjects, 30 subjects in the dialysis group with chronic periodontitis, and 30 with chronic periodontitis who were systemically healthy was conducted. After a health education session, gingival pocket depth (PD) measurement, and clinical attachment level (CAL), scaling was performed for both groups. Then, the mentioned indices were measured consequently, at 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. Improvement in both groups was analyzed by Mann–Whitney and paired sample t‐test at the significance level of 0.05 by SPSS software. RESULTS: In both groups, the decrease in PD and CAL was steadily observed from the first to the third time and the changes from the first to the second and the first to the third time were significant however it was not significant between the second and third time. Mean PD and CAL in the dialysis group were higher than in the nondialysis group, which was significant (p < 0.001) for the mean PD. The mean improvement of PD and CAL in dialysis patients was 14.31 ± 10.48 and 17.60 ± 7.83%, respectively, and the mean improvement of PD in the nondialysis group was significantly higher than in the dialysis group (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Periodontal treatment (scaling) causes more improvement in periodontal clinical parameters in healthy people with periodontitis than in dialysis patients.