IADR Abstract Archives
An interim report of a RCT of ayurvedic oral health practices
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a traditional ayurvedic practice (‘oil pulling’) on periodontal parameters: plaque levels and gingival health.
Methods: Sixty-eight young adults without caries or periodontal pockets (CPI>3) were block randomized (in groups of four) to two arms of a cross-over clinical trial. In the first arm of the trial, the test group was assigned to ‘oil pulling’ and conventional oral hygiene methods (standardised toothbrush and toothpaste). The control group were assigned to receive only conventional oral hygiene methods (standardised toothbrush and toothpaste). The test group were provided with a 700mL of virgin coconut oil (label concealed) and were requested to rinse daily with a tablespoon of the oil before brushing. Assessments of oral hygiene was determined by the Plaque Index - PI (Silness and Lӧe, 1964); and the Gingival Index - GI (Lӧe and Silness, 1963) at baseline and mid-term follow-up (4-6 weeks). Changes in PI scores, proportion of sites with visible plaque (PVP), GI scores and proportion of sites with gingival bleeding (PGB) were determined overtime using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests for related data. In addition, changes in PI, PVP, GI and PGB were determined between groups using Mann-Whitney U tests for independent samples.
Results: The overall response rate was 94.1% (64/68; 2 test and 2 control subjects were lost to follow-up). Among the test group, there were significant changes in PVP [mean change=-0.11 (SD 0.16), p<0.01], GI score [mean=0.18 (SD 0.27), p<0.01] and in PGB [mean=0.16 (SD 0.26), p<0.05]. Among the control group, there were significant changes in GI score [mean=0.19 (SD 0.33), p<0.01] and in PGB [mean=0.16 (SD 0.29), p=<0.01]. Changes in periodontal health parameters were not significant between the test and control group (p>0.05).
Conclusions: At the interim of this cross-over randomized control trial, changes in plaque and gingival health were evident among both test and control groups. However, no significant differences in any parameters were apparent. This questions the value of the ayurvedic health practice of ‘oil pulling’.
Methods: Sixty-eight young adults without caries or periodontal pockets (CPI>3) were block randomized (in groups of four) to two arms of a cross-over clinical trial. In the first arm of the trial, the test group was assigned to ‘oil pulling’ and conventional oral hygiene methods (standardised toothbrush and toothpaste). The control group were assigned to receive only conventional oral hygiene methods (standardised toothbrush and toothpaste). The test group were provided with a 700mL of virgin coconut oil (label concealed) and were requested to rinse daily with a tablespoon of the oil before brushing. Assessments of oral hygiene was determined by the Plaque Index - PI (Silness and Lӧe, 1964); and the Gingival Index - GI (Lӧe and Silness, 1963) at baseline and mid-term follow-up (4-6 weeks). Changes in PI scores, proportion of sites with visible plaque (PVP), GI scores and proportion of sites with gingival bleeding (PGB) were determined overtime using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests for related data. In addition, changes in PI, PVP, GI and PGB were determined between groups using Mann-Whitney U tests for independent samples.
Results: The overall response rate was 94.1% (64/68; 2 test and 2 control subjects were lost to follow-up). Among the test group, there were significant changes in PVP [mean change=-0.11 (SD 0.16), p<0.01], GI score [mean=0.18 (SD 0.27), p<0.01] and in PGB [mean=0.16 (SD 0.26), p<0.05]. Among the control group, there were significant changes in GI score [mean=0.19 (SD 0.33), p<0.01] and in PGB [mean=0.16 (SD 0.29), p=<0.01]. Changes in periodontal health parameters were not significant between the test and control group (p>0.05).
Conclusions: At the interim of this cross-over randomized control trial, changes in plaque and gingival health were evident among both test and control groups. However, no significant differences in any parameters were apparent. This questions the value of the ayurvedic health practice of ‘oil pulling’.