Beneficial effect of aged garlic extract on periodontitis: a randomized controlled double-blind clinical study.

The purpose of this study is to assess the long-term efficacy of aged garlic extract to improve periodontitis. Two hundred and one participants were randomly stratified and assigned equally to the regimen group or the control group. At the start, 12 month, and 18 month subjects received dental examination and periodontal evaluation. Probing Pocket Depth and Gingival Recession were examined. For each efficacy parameter, the mean value of examination was calculated and assessed using paired-difference t tests. Statistical tests were two-sided using a 5% significance level. The mean value of pocket depth for the aged garlic extract group at 18 month was 1.06 ± 0.49 as compared to the baseline value of 1.89 ± 0.74 (p<0.001) and the corresponding value of 1.50 ± 0.46 for the placebo group (p<0.001), indicating the beneficial effect of aged garlic extract on periodontitis. According to a Multiple linear regression analysis the only three variables which reached statistical significance as predictors of PPD level were the baseline PPD scores (p<0.001), smoking (p = 0.020), and consumption of daily dose of aged garlic extract (p<0.001). These results demonstrated that aged garlic extract is an effective supplement for preventing or improving periodontal disease. The well demonstrated benefits of aged garlic extract for the oral disease may also be used as a means to improve general health because of the close relationship between periodontitis and some systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and others.