Comparative evaluation of clinical efficacy of systemically administered commercially available antioxidant formulations as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of chronic periodontitis

Purpose: Antioxidants are nutraceuticals that reduce the concentration of reactive oxygen species and thereby reduce the inflammatory burden. The current randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of commercially available antioxidant formulations, oxitard and lycopene tablets as adjuncts to scaling and root planning in the management of chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Forty-five chronic periodontitis patients were randomly divided into three groups, namely Group A – only scaling and root planing (SRP), Group B – SRP with oxitard tablet, and Group C – SRP with lycopene tablet. Clinical parameters – plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, and relative attachment level were evaluated at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. Results: All groups significantly reduced clinical parameters from baseline to 6 months (P < 0.05). Intragroup analysis showed Group B and Group C to be significantly better than Group A (P < 0.05), whereas Group B showed similar results when compared to Group C (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Oxitard and Lycopene showed better improvements in clinical parameters when compared to SRP alone. Thus, both oxitard and lycopene can be potential adjuncts to SRP in the treatment of chronic periodontitis in the near future.