title: Efficacy of curcumin in the treatment of chronic gingivitis: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of curcumin mouthwash as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of chronic gingivitis and to compare curcumin to chlorhexidine in terms of its anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients aged 20-40 years with generalised chronic gingivitis were included in the study. They were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 each. In group 1, patients underwent scaling and root planing followed by chlorhexidine mouthwash (SRP/CHX Gr-1); in group 2, patients underwent scaling and root planing followed by curcumin mouthwash (SRP/CUR Gr-2); in group 3, patients underwent only scaling and root planing (SRP Gr-3). Gingival and plaque indices were recorded at baseline (day 0) and 7, 14 and 21 days. Differences between the groups were statistically analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical parameters showed improvement in all the three groups compared to baseline. When compared to the scaling and root planing group (Gr-3), both curcumin and chlorhexidine groups were found to have statistically significantly better results (P < 0.05). However, when curcumin and chlorhexidine groups were compared, the gingival (Löe and Silness) and plaque index (Silness and Löe) scores were not found to be statistically significant (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Curcumin is comparable to chlorhexidine as an anti-inflammatory mouthwash. Thus, it can be considered as an effective adjunct to mechanical periodontal therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Peridontology and Implantology, M.A Rangoowala Dental College, Puna, India.
authors.forename: Sangeeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muglikar
authors.forename: Kalpak Chandrakant
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Sumanth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shivswami
authors.forename: Rashmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hegde
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D012534:Dental Scaling; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D009067:Mouthwashes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D009067:Mouthwashes; D003474:Curcumin; D002710:Chlorhexidine