Assessment of benzyl isothiocyanate as an adjunct to conventional periodontal therapy

Conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy eliminates the pathogenic microbes, yet residual deposits promote the recurrence of the disease. As antimicrobials may pose undesirable effects, alternate therapies are probed.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of locally delivered benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) as an adjunct to scaling and root planing to treat patients with chronic periodontitis.

The study included 30 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis. Test (scaling and root planing along with BITC intervention) and control (scaling and root planing) sites were randomly assigned to each patient. These sites were in the contralateral quadrants, having a probing depth of 4-6 mm. The plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), pocket probing depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and microbial load (colony forming unit [CFU]) were assessed at baseline, 1-week, and 6-week time interval. Data were analyzed by ANOVA/Friedman test, Mann-Whitney U-test, pairwise paired t-test, and Wilcoxon test, with P ≤ 0.05 set as statistically significant.

The scores of PI, GI, PPD, and CAL from baseline to 6-week follow-up within both the test and control sites were noted to be statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The CFU showed a significant reduction (P = 0.0229) within the test site at varying time intervals. The change in the mean PI score from baseline to 6-week time interval between the test and control site was noted to be statistically significant (P = 0.0039).

The local application of BITC chips effectively reduced the PI, GI, PPD, and CFU, subsequently with the gain in CAL, and improved the tissue integrity and thereby oral hygiene.