Root Planing with Dull and Sharp Curettes

SUBGINGIVAL ROOT planing is a basic technique of clinical periodontics.Since rough tooth surfaces facilitate the accumulation and retention of bacterial plaque and calculus 1-5 root planing to attain smooth, as well as deposit-free tooth surfaces, is advisable.Periodontal curettes produce smoother roots than either the hoe or file types of instruments, 6 -10 and curettes are generally used for subgingival root planing.It has been reported that dull curettes will burnish and improve the polish of root surfaces, 10 but most clinicians advise the use of sharp planing instruments to obtain smooth root surfaces.The object of this study was to compare the effect on root surface roughness which results when (1) sharp, and (2) dull curettes are used as subgingival root planing instruments.MATERIALS Samples For this study 48 anterior and/or bicuspid teeth from 12 male patients were used.All the teeth were scheduled to be extracted prior to prosthetic service at the United States Veterans Administration Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan.The patients ranged in age from 44 to 80 years.In the areas of root planing, the depth of the gingival crevice varied from 3-8 mm, and moderate to gross subgingival calculus deposits were present.Instruments Four sets of curettes (Bunting #5 and #6)* were used for subgingival root planing.The edges on one set of curettes were dulled by rubbing against the enamel crown of an extracted tooth.This dull set of curettes was identified by placing orange tape on the instrument handles.The other three sets of curettes were resharpened on a flat Arkansas stone** lubricated with oil after each period of use.