Background: This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive view on microbial community shifts after periodontal therapy with and without systemic antibiotics, conducted in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods: Search functions in PubMed, Scopus, the Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane Oral Health Library databases were used to locate studies published up to December 2018 that reported at least two bacteria before and after periodontal therapy. Gray literature and manual searching were done. Information about reported bacteria in those studies were extracted, and a descriptive microbial community analysis was conducted to observe trends and influencing factors on microbial dynamics. Methodological aspects were examined, including the bacterial detection method, heterogeneity of procedures, and risk of bias (RoB) of the studies.
Results: The 30 included studies reported 130 different bacterial genera. Four different detection methods were reported: cultivation, polymerase chain reaction, DNA-DNA-checkerboard hybridization, and 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. No general compositional change between the antibiotic and placebo groups could be found after therapy on the community level. Fifty-five bacteria were reported in two or more studies. Of those, 24 genera decreased and 13 increased more frequently after antibiotic use. Great heterogeneity between procedures and variability in RoB were found among the studies.
Conclusions: Microbial shifts occurred regardless of the use of antibiotics. Antibiotic therapy seems to induce more changes in single bacteria. The heterogeneity in methods and reporting of the included studies preclude clinical recommendations on the use or not of adjunctive antibiotics. The present results may guide further research on the topic.
Keywords: antibiotics; microbiology; non-surgical periodontal therapy; periodontal microbiota; systematic review/meta-analysis.
© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Periodontal Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.