Impact of erythritol air polishing in supportive periodontal care: literature review

الملخص

Background: Erythritol powder air polishing (EPAP) has emerged as a potential adjunctive treatment in supportive periodontal care (SPC). This literature review aims to evaluate the efficacy of EPAP in promoting periodontal health, focusing on clinical outcomes, microbial impact and patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus to identify systematic reviews with meta-analyses and human, peer-reviewed clinical studies published between 2014 and 2024. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies evaluating EPAP in SPC, while exclusion criteria ruled out non-periodontal therapy studies and non-peer-reviewed articles.

Results: The search yielded 37 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Key findings include significant reductions in periodontal pocket depths, bleeding on probing, and plaque index scores with EPAP.  Patient-reported outcomes indicated higher satisfaction, significant microbial impact and reduced post-treatment sensitivity with EPAP compared to traditional scaling and root planing (SRP).

Conclusion: The review suggests that EPAP is an effective adjunctive treatment in SPC, offering significant clinical improvements, reduced tissue damage, and greater patient comfort. EPAP shows promise for integration into routine periodontal maintenance protocols. However, further long-term randomized controlled trials are necessary to confirm its benefits and establish its role in periodontal therapy.