Effects of debridement with an ultrasonic furcation tip in degree II furcation involvement of mandibular molars.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effects of closed debridement with an ultrasonic furcation tip in degree II furcation involvement of mandibular molars. Fifteen patients with degree II furcation involvement in mandibular first and/ or second molars participated in the study. All patients were given oral hygiene instruction. Plaque score, probing depth, probing attachment level and bleeding on probing were recorded at baseline, 1, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Following a baseline examination, a single episode of supra- and subgingival debridement was provided using an ultrasonic furcation tip in the test group, and an ultrasonic conventional tip and hand scalers under local anesthesia in the control group. At baseline, the mean horizontal probing depth in the test group was 6.35 mm and in the control group 6.06 mm. These values decreased to 4.88 mm and 5.29 mm respectively after 12 weeks. There were horizontal probing attachment gains of 1.29 mm in the test group and 0.59 mm in the control group after 12 weeks (P < 0.01). The bleeding scores were 1.0 in the test group and 0.88 in control group at baseline. These scores were improved to 0.12 in the test group and 0.59 in the control group after 12 weeks (P < 0.01). The results suggest that ultrasonic debridement with a furcation tip has a significantly better potential in treating degree II furcation involvement of mandibular molars.