Randomization
Through a permuted block design, the randomization was performed by a single clinician, not involved in the subsequent trial stages, which generated a random assignment of a treatment using a sequence 1:1 ratio by a computer random-number generator.Each patient was allocated to receive Q-SRP or FMD. The allocation was concealed to the clinician who performed the NSPT protocol using serially numbered, sealed envelopes, and the sequence details were concealed from all other clinicians. Before each treatment, a clinician who was not engaged in data processing assigned the patient’s treatment to a sealed envelope containing the treatment’s name and initials.Just prior to each treatment session, a clinician not involved in the subsequent study stages opened the envelope containing the patient’s assigned therapy which he handed to the clinician for treatment. To eliminate bias in the experimental data, all the procedures were performed by the same blinded clinician with ten years of expertise in periodontics.