Comparative Study of Ozonated Olive Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Effects on Oral Hygiene

Background: gingivitis and the search for gentler home care

Gingivitis is a common, reversible inflammation of the gums driven by dental plaque. Left unchecked, it can progress to more serious periodontal disease. Alongside professional cleaning, daily home care is central to keeping plaque and gum inflammation under control, which has prompted interest in natural adjuncts to conventional oral hygiene products. Ozonated olive oil, in which olive oil is enriched with ozone, has been explored for its antimicrobial properties, and this trial set out to compare it directly against plain extra virgin olive oil for everyday gum care.

Study design: a three-week comparison in 71 patients

The researchers ran a randomised, double-blind pilot trial in 71 patients with gum disease, aged between 27 and 54 and predominantly female. After a professional hygiene treatment, participants were allocated to two home-care groups: one using ozonated olive oil and one using extra virgin olive oil. Gum health was measured at baseline and again after three weeks using three standard clinical indices - the Full Mouth Plaque Score (the percentage of sites with plaque), the Full Mouth Bleeding Score (the percentage of sites that bled on probing), and the Gingival Index (a 0 to 3 rating of gum inflammation).

Findings: larger reductions across all three indices with the ozonated oil

Both oils improved gum health over the three weeks, but the ozonated olive oil group showed the greater change on every measure. Plaque scores fell from around 62.6 to 20.9 with the ozonated oil, compared with 64.4 to 31.4 for the plain oil. Bleeding scores dropped from 40.6 to 13.4 with the ozonated oil, against 38.0 to 22.0 for the plain oil. The Gingival Index fell from 1.291 to 0.876 with the ozonated oil, compared with 1.326 to 1.093 for the plain oil. The differences were statistically significant.

What the authors concluded

The authors concluded that ozonized olive oil can be included among the products able to help control the causative factors of gingivitis while reducing its clinical manifestations. On the measures used, it performed better than extra virgin olive oil as an adjunct to routine home oral hygiene over the study period.

Limitations of this study

This was a small, single-centre pilot study, and the authors themselves frame it as preliminary. The follow-up period was only three weeks, so nothing can be said about longer-term gum health or how well any benefit is maintained. The sample was modest and skewed towards a particular age range, and the authors call for larger studies, including in higher-risk populations. As a pilot trial, the results are best read as an encouraging signal that warrants further, larger and longer investigation rather than a definitive verdict.