Effects of Amoxicillin and Metronidazole As an Adjunct to Scaling and Root Planing on Glycemic Control in Patients with Periodontitis and Type 2 Diabetes: A Short-term Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To assess the effects of amoxicillin and metronidazole with scaling and root planing (SRP) on periodontal parameters and glycemic control in patients with severe periodontitis and diabetes mellitus.

Background: Adjunctive antibiotics use is advantageous for treating periodontitis in patients with severe periodontitis and diabetes. However, the effects of adjunctive antibiotic use on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels remain unclear.

Methods: This short-term, randomized controlled trial enrolled patients with severe periodontitis and type 2 diabetes. The patients were randomly allocated to SPR only (i.e., control) or SPR + antibiotics (500 mg of amoxicillin and 200 mg of metronidazole, three times daily for 7 days) groups. Periodontal and hematological parameters were assessed at baseline and 3 months after treatment. Inter- and intra-group analyses were performed using Student's t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and the binary logistic regression models. p-values of <.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: This study enrolled 49 patients, with 23 and 26 patients in the SRP-only and SRP + antibiotics groups, respectively. The periodontal parameters improved significantly and similarly in both groups after treatment (p < .05). The SRP + antibiotics group had more sites of improvement than the SRP-only group when the initial probing depth was >6 mm. (698 [78.96%] vs. 545 [73.35%], p = .008). The HbA1c levels decreased in the SRP-only and SRP + antibiotics groups after treatment (0.39% and 0.53%, respectively). The multivariable binary logistic regression model demonstrated that antibiotics administration and a high baseline HbA1c level were associated with a greater reduction in the HbA1c level (odds ratio = 4.551, 95% confidence interval: 1.012-20.463; odds ratio = 7.162, 95% confidence interval: 1.359-37.753, respectively).

Conclusions: SRP and SRP plus systemic antibiotics were beneficial for glycemic control. Adjunctive antibiotic use slightly improved the outcome for patients with severe periodontitis and poorly controlled diabetes.