“Evaluation of the Efficacy of Azadirachta Indica (Neem) Extract Gel as a Local Drug Delivery in the Treatment of Patients with Chronic Periodontitis. ” A Double Blind Randomised Clinical Trial

Introduction: Periodontal diseases comprise of a group of inflammatory conditions of the supporting tissues of the teeth that are initiated by microorganism. The removal or inhibition of subgingival plaque and maintenance is dependent on continued plaque control for which adjunctive local antimicrobial therapy has shown promising results. In the present study, we explored the efficacy of Azadirachta indica (Neem) extract gel as a local drug delivery in the treatment of patients with chronic periodontitis and evaluated the clinical as well as the microbiological benefits when used as an adjunct to scaling and root planning. Method: 20 patients with chronic periodontitis in the age group of 30-55 years, with pocket depth of > 5mm with radiographic evidence of bone loss participated in the study. Following scaling and root planing the neem extract gel and placebo gel were placed at the experimental and control sites respectively. The clinical parameters were recorded at baseline, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months while the microbiological parameters were recorded at baseline, 7 days, 15 days and 30 days respectively. Results: The results showed improvements in the clinical parameters both at the control and the experimental sites. However, the experimental sites showed better results compared to the control site. The microbiological analysis proved a relative reduction of the periodontal pathogens at both the experimental as well as the control site with the control site showing a significantly higher reduction. Conclusion: Neem extract gel produced more improvements in clinical as well as microbiological parameters than the control. The approach of local delivery of a natural extract with no known side effects has proved promising results.