The effect of periodontal treatment on Helicobacter pylori-infection: a systematic review

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a bacterium widely distributed in the world's population, represents the most common cause of chronic gastritis and the main risk factor for stomach cancer. The main obstacle to the eradication of H. pylori is antibiotic resistance, therefore new therapeutic strategies are necessary. Recently, periodontitis has been correlated with several systemic diseases, including H. pylori-associated gastritis. The common pathogenetic link between these two diseases is the chronic inflammation induced by bacteria in the oral cavity and stomach. This systematic review aims to evaluate the benefits of non-surgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) on Helicobacter pylori eradication. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane were searched using the MESH terms “Helicobacter pylori” and “periodontal treatment”, “Helicobacter pylori” and “periodontal”, “Helicobacter pylori” and “scaling root planning” from January 2015 to January 2025, leading to 11 records included in the final analysis. The periodontal treatments evaluated in the studies are scaling and root planing and mouthwashing, in addition to antibiotic protocols for H. pylori eradication (HPE). A quality assessment and risk-of-bias of the studies were also performed. There is evidence that patients with H. pylori infection benefit from NSPT. The limitations of the studies examined are the small samples, the short follow-up, and the few numbers of randomized controlled trials. According to our data, NSPT might be included in HPE guidelines.