Clinical and microbiological effects of systemic azithromycin in adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal therapy in treatment of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans associated periodontitis: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial

Objective This study aimed to evaluate clinical and microbiological effects of systemic azithromycin (AZM) in adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT; or scaling root planing – SRP) in treatment of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans associated periodontitis (AAAP). Methods and materials Seventy individuals with moderate to severe periodontitis and subgingival detection of A. actinomycetemcomitans were randomly allocated to two groups. Thirty‐five individuals were allocated to full mouth SRP+AZM (500 mg oral delivery (OD) × 3 days) while 35 individuals were allocated to SRP+Placebo (OD × 3 days) group. The clinical variables evaluated were probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and percent bleeding on probing sites (%BOP), while microbiologic variables included percentage of subjects positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Results The AZM group showed statistically significant reduction in mean PD (2.91 ± 0.88 mm) as compared to placebo (1.51 ± 0.98 mm) (P