The Effectiveness of Natural Virgin Coconut Oil in Periodontal Tissue Regeneration

Background: Periodontal disease is the most common inflammatory disease presents in humans. Data from Global Burden of Disease in 1990-2010 shows that periodontal disease, particularly periodontitis, ranks sixth globally with percentage of 11.2% and suffered by approximately 743 million people. While in Indonesia according to the data from RISKESDAS 2018, the prevalence of periodontitis reached 74.1% of the total number of oral diseases experienced by the population. Coconut plant (Cocosnucifera L) has great potential to be processed into useful products. Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) formed by processing coconut flesh into oil is used as medicine and believed to cure various diseases. The advantage of this oil lies in the high level of saturated fatty acids (around 90%), which makes VCO the healthiest oil. VCO is very rich in lauric acid content, ranging 50-70%, which gives VCO a tissue regeneration effect. Objective: This study aims to discuss the effectiveness of VCO on the regeneration of periodontal soft tissue in periodontitis. Method: A systematic study was conducted on the PubMed and Google Scholar databases for clinical trials published in English up until 2021. A preliminary search of the databases resulted in 110 articles. Manual searches of full text articles and other related articles were carried out afterwards. PICO (Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes) questions were used in this systematic review. The articles selected were those that focused on the effectiveness of VCO on tissue healing and regeneration. Literature Review: Virgin Coconut Oil is proven to speed up wound healing time and has the highest healing rate, due to its ability to moisturize wounds, accelerate cellular metabolism, and has the anti-inflammatory and anti-infection properties in treating chemical burns. VCO with its high lauric acid content can accelerate the tissue regeneration process, where regeneration is often used to describe the formation of new adhesions, cementum, alveolar bone and periodontal ligaments on the site that has previously lost the tooth-supporting tissue structure. Regeneration will result in the replacement of the damaged tissue with the same newly-formed tissue. Conclusion: Is proven to provide many benefits for daily life, especially in the health sector. Lauric acid, which is abundant in VCO, can stimulate soft tissue that is damaged due to inflammation, also accelerates wound and tissue healing.