On account of its proven clinical efficacy, the combination of systemically administered amoxicillin and metronidazole is frequently adjuncted to non-operative periodontal therapy and well documented. Potential drawbacks of this regimen, e.g., side effects and problems with the compliance, led to an ongoing search for alternatives. Azithromycin, an antibiotic extensively used in general medicine, has recently found its niche in periodontal therapy as well. This systematic review aimed to analyze the in vitro antimicrobial efficacy of amoxicillin plus metronidazole versus azithromycin. For this purpose, a systematic literature search was performed, and studies published up to 29 March 2018 referenced in Medline, Embase, Cochrane, and Biosis were independently screened by two authors. An additional hand search was performed and studies focusing on the evaluation of in vitro antimicrobial efficacy of amoxicillin + metronidazole or azithromycin on bacteria from the subgingival biofilm were included. English and German language research reports were considered. From 71 identified articles, only three articles were eligible for inclusion. These studies showed heterogeneity in terms of analytical methods and strains explored. However, all studies used multispecies biofilm models for analysis of the antimicrobial activity. Unanimously, studies reported on more pronounced antimicrobial effects when applying the combination of amoxicillin + metronidazole, compared to azithromycin. Based on the few studies available, the combination of amoxicillin + metronidazole seemed to display higher antimicrobial efficacy in vitro than azithromycin.
Keywords: amoxicillin; antimicrobial; azithromycin; in vitro; macrolide; metronidazole; systematic review.