Sixteen patients diagnosed as having juvenile periodontitis were randomly placed into one of two treatment groups. Group I received local and systemic tetracycline (TTC), while Group II received no antibiotics. Osseous defects were grafted with allogeneic freeze-dried bone (FDBA) mixed with TTC powder (Group Ia) or FDBA alone (Group IIa). Contralateral defects were debrided only in both Groups (Ib and IIb). Direct reentry evaluation of 104 measurement sites demonstrated significantly greater bone fill (mean = 2.8 mm) and resolution of osseous defects (mean = 72.7%) in the TTC/FDBA-treated group (Ia) as compared to the TTC plus debridement only (Ib) or no TTC-treated groups (IIa and IIb). The results of this study indicate that of the modes of treatment investigated, the combination of local and systemic tetracycline coupled with freeze-dried bone allografts was the treatment of choice for defects associated with juvenile periodontitis.

Ten patients with bilateral, posterior osseous defects associated with localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP) completed the study. Following the initial therapy, osseous defects were surgically debrided and grafted with a 4:1 volume ratio combination of either Synthograft/tetracycline (b-TCP/TTC), Periograf/tetracycline (HA/TTC) or freeze-dried bone allograft/tetracycline (FDBA/TTC). Graft materials were selected randomly for each half mouth following defect debridement, with a different material used on the opposite side for that patient. Immediately following each surgery, patients were placed on doxycycline 100 mg/day for 10 days. Direct re-entry evaluation of 51 osseous defects demonstrated no significant differences among the graft materials regarding hard tissue or soft tissue changes, except for greater percent defect fill for HA/TTC compared to b-TCP/TTC. Significant decreases in defect depth and pocket depth were achieved with each graft material. No adverse reactions to the use of any of the graft materials in combination with local and systemic tetracycline were found. The results indicate all three graft materials used in conjunction with TTC are acceptable and beneficial for the treatment and repair of osseous defects associated with localized juvenile periodontitis.