Current concepts and advances in manual and power -driven instrumentation.

Mechanical debridement consisting of scaling and root planing is an important procedure in the treatment of periodontal diseases. By root instrumentation, toxic substances can be removed from periodontally affected root surfaces resulting in the biologic ⁄ detoxic condition of the root surface, which is favorable for periodontal tissue healing. In addition to supragingival plaque control, subgingival plaque control by means of mechanical debridement is essential for elimination of the microbial causative factors of periodontal disease. Meticulous scaling and root planing is performed during the surgical and nonsurgical phases of periodontal treatment, as well as in the maintenance phase. Until now, mechanical debridement has been performed with the help of scalers. Scalers can be divided into manual, powerdriven, and other types. In this chapter, we discuss the various usages of these scalers and the current concepts and advances in the field of mechanical debridement.

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