Comparison of Ozonated Olive Oil and Chlorhexidine Gel as an Adjunct to Nonsurgical Periodontal Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Periodontitis: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVES: Complete elimination of the pathogenic microorganisms from the gingival sulcus area is the ultimate goal of any periodontal therapy. Certain factors such as anatomical variation of teeth, deep periodontal pocket, and tissue-invading ability of some bacteria decrease the effectiveness of conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy, i.e., scaling and root planing (SRP). Hence, antimicrobial agents could be used as an adjunct to SRP, in order to increase the efficacy of it. Although Chlorhexidine (CHX) is the gold standard as an antiplaque agent, it has several drawbacks. Recently, ozone therapy is being tried for the treatment of several diseases in the field of dentistry. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of local application of CHX and ozonated olive oil as adjunctive to SRP for the treatment of chronic periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty individuals who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were selected for this split-mouth randomized controlled trial. The treatment sites from each individual were randomly allocated into two groups. Along with SRP, the local application of CHX and ozonated olive oil was done for the control and test sites, respectively. Pocket probing depth, relative attachment loss, and sulcus bleeding index were measured before and 3 months after the treatment. Intragroup and intergroup differences in the clinical parameters were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann–Whitney U test, respectively. RESULTS: Three months' posttreatment, all the parameters showed significant improvement in both the groups. However, the intergroup comparison failed to be significant statistically. CONCLUSION: Ozonated olive oil could enhance the outcomes of SRP for the treatment of periodontal diseases.