Can preservative Nisin preserve periodontium?

Brief Background: Nisin’ is found naturally in dairy products and is also used as a preservative in food and beverages. It shows a rapid and broad spectrum activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and hence could be used as a local drug delivery agent. Aim: To evaluate the clinical efficacy (Gingival Index GI, Probing Pocket Depth PPD, (Relative Attachment level RAL) of Scaling Root Planing (SRP) alone versus SRP with Nisin gel as LDD in pocket reduction therapy at baseline and after 3 months. Methodology: 30 sites in patients with chronic periodontitis with 5-7mm PPD were selected after taking informed consent. It was a split mouth study. Sites were divided into Group A Test group (15 sites) treated with SRP + LDD of Nisin gel and Group B control group (15 sites) treated with SRP alone. Clinical parameters were recorded at baseline and post treatment at 3 months. Results: It was observed that there was an improvement in clinical parameters in both the groups from baseline to 3 months post treatment, with Group A Test Group showing superior results. There was statistically significant improvement in Gingival Index in Group A as compared to Group B. PPD and RAL did not show statistically significant difference in both the groups. Summary and Conclusions: Nisin improves periodontal health and hence can be potentially used as an LLD agent. Keywords: Nisin, Preservative, Local drug delivery, Scaling root planing.