Curcuma longa is a yellow, water insoluble pigment extracted from the root of turmeric, a commonly used spice and food coloring agent in Southeast Asian cooking. It has also been used as a therapeutic agent in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. Recently, its antiinflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects have been studied extensively. It is also reported to have antibacterial and antifungal properties.

A study done by P.L. Ravishankar et al and published in International Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation evaluated the comparative effect of curcumin and ornidazole in the treatment of chronic periodontitis

In this study, Twenty individuals of either sexes aged between 27 and 53 years diagnosed with chronic periodontitis and having pocket depths more than 5 mm were enrolled. The patients received a complete oral prophylaxis including scaling and root planing after which, both test gels were injected into the two experimental sites chosen, that had probing depth (PD) >5 mm. Pocket depth, clinical attachment loss, and plaque index were recorded at days 0 and 30.

At 1‑month evaluation, curcumin group showed a significant decrease in pocket probing depths, plaque index, and clinical attachment loss when compared to the ornidazole group.

The results showed a more favourable outcome with curcumin than ornidazole gel, thus suggesting that curcumin can be used as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal therapy in future.