Tetracycline treatment of periodontal disease in the beagle dog

ABSTRACT

Seventeen adult beagle dogs with moderate to severe periodontitis were examined at time zero and after a 6 month pretreatment period for plaque accumulation, gingival inflammation, and rate of alveolar bone loss. The dogs were then divided into three groups. One group was the untreated controls, one group received tetracycline HCl 250 mg daily, and one group received tetracycline HCl 500 mg daily. Plaque accumulation, gingival inflammation, and rate of alveolar bone loss in each group over a 12 month treatment period was compared to the pretreatment baseline values in each group.

There was no significant difference in either the mean plaque accumulation or gingival inflammation over the 12 month treatment period in the untreated control dogs or the tetracycline treated dogs. The untreated control dogs lost alveolar bone in the treatment period at a rate similar to the pretreatment period. In the dogs treated with 250 and with 500 mg tetracycline HCl there was a statistically significant decrease in the rate of alveolar bone loss in the treatment period when compared to the pretreatment period.

The findings suggest that daily tetracycline in either a 250 or 500 mg dose does not affect accumulation of bacterial plaque or severity of gingival inflammation in the beagle dogs studied. Tetracycline administration does significantly decrease the rate of alveolar bone loss in the treated animals for a 12 month period. An additional report will detail the subsequent 12 months of treatment in which tetracycline loses its ability to reduce the rate of alveolar bone loss.