Efficacy of Locally Delivered Thyme Honey as a Novel Adjunct to Non-surgical Periodontal Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

In 2017, the American Academy of Periodontology, in collaboration with the European Federation of Periodontology, devised a new classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases. In this new classification, periodontitis can be subdivided into three categories, Necrotizing periodontal diseases, Periodontitis, Periodontitis as a manifestation of systemic diseases.

Non-surgical treatment is valuable in mild to moderate periodontitis whereas surgical treatment is useful in progressive cases. Confined drug delivery systems-mouth rinses, irrigating solutions and sustained release devices are used for distribution of antimicrobial agents.

It has been observed that artificial antimicrobial agents and antibiotics are identified to cause antimicrobial resistance. It has also been observed that appearance of formerly rare infections is on the rise perhaps due to the incorrect or prevalent overuse of antimicrobials. Natural phytochemicals have demonstrated to be worthy substitutes to synthetic agents.

It is interesting fact to note that two of the most populated countries in the world China and India, have used herbal medicine for the managing of oral infections, comprising periodontal disease as well for more than a duration of 2000 years.

It has been found that in adults with chronic periodontitis, scaling and root planning along with use of an adjunctive antimicrobial mediator increases patient outcomes over a period of time compared to scaling alone. Modern chemotherapeutic agents display significant efficacy in improving periodontal health but owing to undesirable side effects such as tooth discoloration, taste alteration, and price of these substances, the usage of herbal products has increased lately and could be especially of high benefit to lower socioeconomic populations around the world.