A clinical study on the effectiveness of Azadirachta indica (neem) as a local drug delivery agent in periodontal disease management

Abstract

Periodontal disease remains a major oral health burden and conventional scaling and root planing (SRP) alone often fails to achieve sustained outcomes in advanced cases. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the neem based local drug delivery (LDD) formulations including gel, chips and extract irrigation as adjuncts to SRP, compared with SRP alone and chlorhexidine chips. Clinical probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI) and microbiological (CFU count) parameters were assessed at baseline and after 30 days. Neem based groups showed significant improvements in all parameters, with neem chips showing outcomes comparable to chlorhexidine. Thus, neem-based local drug delivery, particularly neem chips, is an effective, economical and biologically safe adjunct in periodontal therapy.