Scaling and root planing in shallow pockets.

The present study was undertaken to enable histological assessment of attachment level alterations following repeated scaling and root planing in periodontal sites with "normal" sulcus/pocket depth. Two monkeys (Macaca cynomolgus) were used. During a period of 6 months, scaling was carried out once every 2 weeks at the buccal surfaces of premolars and molars on the right side of the jaws. The contralateral teeth served as untreated controls. Six months after the completion of treatment (1 year after the start of the experiment), the animals were sacrificed and histological sections of all test and control teeth were produced. In these sections the distances between the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) and the apical extent of the junctional epithelium (JE) and between the JE and the alveolar bone crest (BC) were measured. The results revealed that repeated scaling and planing resulted in an average loss of connective tissue attachment amounting to 0.39 mm and in a corresponding recession of the alveolar bone crest. The findings are discussed in relation to recent observations from clinical trials demonstrating loss of clinical attachment following repeated scaling and root planing in sites with shallow gingival pockets.