Effects of Periodontal Pocket Irrigation with a Green Tea Extract on Clinical Signs and Subgingival Bacterial Flora in Periodontitis Patients

Japanese green tea has been known to have an anticarious action and a halitosis-preventing action. The active ingredient, catechin, has been reported to have antibacterial, plaque-f ormation-suppressant and gingivitis-preventing activity. The purpuse of this study was to investigate the effect of periodontal pocket irrigation with tea extract on clinical signs and subgingival bacterial flora. After scaling and root planing, periodontal pocket irrigation with a green tea extract solution was performed on 10 patients with periodontitis, and changes in clinical parameters and bacterial flora were evaluated in comparison with patients irrigated with sterile distilled water. The results showed significantly better clinical findings in terms of GI, GCF, BOP in the group treated with green tea extract than in the group treated with sterile distilled water. Changes in bacterial flora revealed a greater decrease in motile rods as a proportion of all bacteria in the green tea extract group than in the sterile distilled water group. These findings indicate that periodontal pocket irrigation with green tea extract solution may serve as useful adjunctive therapy for periodontitis.