The Effectiveness of Vitamin D Supplementation in Chronic Periodontitis Patients: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Oral Surgical Sciences Department, Division of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Beirut Arab University, Lebanon

2 Associate Professor, Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Beirut Arab University, Lebanon; and Faculty of Dentistry, Mansoura University, Egypt.

Abstract

Background : Vitamin D deficiency is a common health problem worldwide and linked to some infectious and inflammatory conditions, including periodontal disease. This is a double blind randomized controlled study to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of Vitamin D supplementation as an adjunct therapy to non-surgical periodontal treatment in healthy middle-aged vitamin D deficient patients with chronic periodontitis.
Material and Methods: Twenty eight patients with mild to moderate chronic periodontitis were included in this study . They were randomized to two groups: Test Group taking oral Vitamin D supplementation 10,000 IU one tablet daily for five days per week for a total duration of 12 weeks and Control Group taking placebo pills. Both groups were maintained on scaling and root planning sessions. Data was collected at baseline and at three months including the following clinical periodontal parameters: Gingival index (GI), Plaque index (PI), Probing pocket depth (PPD) and Clinical attachment level (CAL).
Results: Intra-group analysis showed that both groups had significant improvements in the periodontal measures. However, analysis comparing changes in the mean periodontal indices between groups showed that the mean changes across all periodontal indices between groups were statistically significant at pConclusion: Adjunctive low cost Vitamin D supplementation in mild to moderate chronic periodontitis in middle aged Vitamin D deficient healthy patients significantly improves clinical periodontal outcomes relative to scaling and root planning alone with no side effects. Vitamin D is safe and probably may contribute to decrease health care costs as an adjunctive therapy to conventional periodontal treatment.

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