Effect of melatonin as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy in the treatment of periodontitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Gingivitis is defined as the inflammation of the gums. The condition may spread to other parts of the periodontium, including the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, and lead to bony defects. Melatonin has a positive impact on the bone healing process, a phenomenon attributable to its antioxidant properties, as well as its capacity to regulate bone cells and promote angiogenesis. The present meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of melatonin as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) in the treatment of periodontitis. A thorough electronic search of the PubMed®/MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases was conducted, in addition to a manual search of the reference lists of archived articles published until May 2023. Among the 8 reviewed articles, 3 studies that evaluated probing depth (PD) and had a 6-month follow-up period were considered for the meta-analysis. After extracting the relevant information, the risk of bias was estimated. A summary of the estimates for standardized mean differences (SMDs) from fixed-effects and random-effects models was obtained based on the mean treatment differences reported in the selected studies. The results demonstrated the overall estimated effect from the fixed-effects model (SMD = 0.862, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.517-1.207, p < 0.001) and the random-effects model (SMD = 0.869, 95% CI: 0.499-1.238, p < 0.001), with minimal inconsistency as indicated by the Q statistic and I2, respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that melatonin may be used as an adjunctive medication with NSPT for the management of periodontitis.