Aim: This study was aimed assess the release pattern of chlorhexidine chip invitro and the efficacy and effect chlorhexidine chip with scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis. Method: The study was a split mouth design consisting of twenty patients with chronic periodontitis with 57mm pockets. The control sites were treated with scaling and root planing alone where as in the test site chlorhexidine chip was also placed. The clinical parameters recorded were gingival index, plaque index, probing depth and relative attachment level at baseline, 10 days, 21 days and three months. Plaque sample was collected at baseline and at three months for microbial analysis. Results: There was significant improvement in the gingival index, plaque index and probing depth scores and clinical attachment level from baseline to three months in both the groups. There was no significant difference between the groups from baseline to three months. Conclusion: Though the use of chlorhexidine chip in addition to scaling and root planing has shown significant improvement in the clinical parameters, the beneficial effects were found to be only marginally better when compared to scaling and root planing alone.

Keywords: Chronic Periodontitis; Chlorhexidine Chip; Local Drug Delivery; Microbiological; Periochip; Scaling and Root Planing.