Effect of adjunctive use of green tea dentifrice in periodontitis patients – A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives</jats:title><jats:p>Green tea is known to possess anti‐inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. This study evaluated the effect of a locally prepared green tea dentifrice on specific parameters assessing gingival inflammation and severity of periodontal disease, when used as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">SRP</jats:styled-content>) in the management of chronic periodontitis by comparing with a fluoride–triclosan‐containing control dentifrice.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and methods</jats:title><jats:p>Thirty patients, with mild to moderate chronic periodontitis, were randomly allocated into two treatment groups, ‘test’ and ‘control’ after initial <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">SRP</jats:styled-content>. The test group was given green tea dentifrice with instructions on method of brushing, while the control group received a commercially available fluoride and triclosan containing dentifrice. Clinical parameters of Gingival Index (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GI</jats:styled-content>), Plaque Index (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">PI</jats:styled-content>), percentage of sites with bleeding on probing (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BOP</jats:styled-content>), probing depth (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">PD</jats:styled-content>) and clinical attachment level (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CAL</jats:styled-content>) along with biochemical parameters of total antioxidant capacity (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TAOC</jats:styled-content>) and glutathione‐S‐transferase (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GST</jats:styled-content>) activity in gingival crevicular fluid (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GCF</jats:styled-content>) were recorded at baseline line and 4 weeks post‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">SRP</jats:styled-content>.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Intragroup analysis at 4 weeks showed statistically significant improvements of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GI</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> PI</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> BOP</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> PD</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> CAL</jats:styled-content> and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TAOC</jats:styled-content> in both groups. <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GST</jats:styled-content> activity however, was increased only in the test group. At the end of the study period, the test group showed statistically significant improvements in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GI</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> BOP</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> CAL</jats:styled-content>,<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case"> TAOC</jats:styled-content> and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GST</jats:styled-content> levels compared to the control group.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>On comparison with fluoride–triclosan dentifrice, green tea showed greater reduction of gingival inflammation and improved periodontal parameters. Green tea dentifrice may serve as a beneficial adjunct to non‐surgical periodontal therapy.</jats:p></jats:sec>