Abstract
Simvastatin has been found to cause increased bone formation in vitro and in animal studies. However, its effect on periodontal reconstruction in humans is yet to be determined. With this study an attempt was made to evaluate the effects of a combination of simvastatin drug with Demineralised Freeze-Dried Bone Allograft (DFDBA) and also to compare the efficacy of this combination with that of DFDBA alone in the treatment of human periodontal defects.
Fifteen patients with almost identical bilateral 2-walled or 3-walled infrabony defects were selected. Defects on the right side (Group A) were treated with the placement of DFDBA alone while those on the left side (Group B) were treated using a combination of DFDBA and a 10−8 M solution of the drug simvastatin. Two clinical parameters, namely probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level and one radiographic parameter, namely infrabony defect depth were measured preoperatively and 12 and 24 weeks postoperatively.
DFDBA alone as well as the combination of DFDBA and simvastatin resulted in a highly significant mean reduction in probing depth, gain in clinical attachment level, and linear defect fill. The values of mean changes in parameters were significantly greater with the drug-graft combination in comparison with the graft alone.
Combination of DFDBA with a solution of simvastatin leads to significantly greater reduction in probing depth, gain in clinical attachment level, and linear defect fill than when the graft is used alone in the treatment of human periodontal infrabony defects.