THE USE OF TOPICAL FLURBIPROFEN AS AN ADJUNCT TO NONSURGICAL MANAGEMENT OF PERIODONTAL-DISEASE

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been used as systemic and topical preparations to control chronic periodontal disease in both animal and clinical human trials. Equivocal findings have failed to confirm whether any one NSAID is particularly efficacious, although flurbiprofen appears to be one of the most promising. 49 patients were allocated at baseline to test (25) and control (24) groups in a 12-month, controlled clinical trial. The groups were of similar age and sex distributions. During the first 3 months, both groups were given oral hygiene instruction and received scaling and root planing. The test patients were prescribed a 1% w/w flurbiprofen toothpaste to use 2 x daily for the entire 12 months. Control subjects were prescribed a placebo dentifrice. Plaque scores, bleeding scores, crevicular fluid flow, probing pocket depths and attachment levels were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Radiographs were taken at baseline and 12 months using a modified intraoral, repositionable film holder. Both the flurbiprofen and placebo showed significant improvements in the clinical parameters over 12 months and there were no significant differences between the groups. Flurbiprofen-treated patients however, demonstrated a significantly greater proportion of sites (8.0%) with bone gain when compared to the placebo group (3.3%). There were no significant differences between the groups in the number of sites showing bone loss or no change. It is concluded that the 1% w/w flurbiprofen toothpaste exerts a small, yet significant effect on bone metabolism in the absence of any apparent effects on clinical parameters.