Antioxidant, antibacterial, and systemic efficacy of sesame oil pulling in periodontitis and diabetes management.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy of sesame oil pulling in periodontitis with/without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), compared to chlorhexidine, for its oral and systemic health benefits.

METHOD AND MATERIALS: A total of 120 periodontitis patients, without (Group A; 60)/with (Group B; 60) T2DM, underwent control (chlorhexidine 0.12%; Group A1 and B1) and test (sesame oil pulling; Group A2 and B2) interventions. Plaque index, pocket depth, salivary total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (ELISA), subgingival plaque BANA test, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were evaluated at baseline and 30 days post-intervention using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a significant P value set at .05. Group B serum samples were also analyzed for fructosamine and lipid profile.

RESULTS

Both treatment regimens were equivalent in reduction of plaque, pocket depth, and red complex periodontopathogens in Group A and B. Significant increase in salivary T-AOC post-intervention was observed in Group B with both interventions (P .01). Sesame oil pulling significantly decreased systemic CRP and triglyceride levels, with no difference observed with chlorhexidine in Group B.

CONCLUSION

Sesame oil pulling is equivalent to chlorhexidine for anti-plaque, antibacterial, and antioxidant effects in periodontitis patients with/without T2DM. Systemic anti-inflammatory, cardio-protective benefits (reduction of CRP and triglycerides) make it a better adjunct to scaling and root planing than chlorhexidine in periodontitis with T2DM.