The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of adjunctive topical melatonin gel when used with non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) in adult patients with periodontitis. This study includes systemically healthy or medically controlled patients aged 18-45 years who are diagnosed with periodontitis and attend the Department of Periodontology at Liaquat College of Medicine \& Dentistry, Karachi.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
* Does adjunctive topical 5% melatonin gel improve clinical attachment level (CAL) compared to placebo after NSPT?
* Does adjunctive topical 5% melatonin gel improve plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and periodontal pocket depth (PPD) compared to placebo after NSPT? Researchers will compare patients receiving NSPT with topical melatonin gel to patients receiving NSPT with placebo gel to determine whether melatonin provides additional clinical benefits in periodontal therapy.
Participants will:
* Undergo baseline periodontal examination, including assessment of plaque index, gingival index, periodontal pocket depth, and clinical attachment level.
* Receive non-surgical periodontal therapy (scaling and root planing).
* Be randomly assigned to receive either 5% topical melatonin gel or placebo gel applied intra-pocket.
* Attend follow-up visits for gel application and monitoring.
* Undergo reassessment of clinical periodontal parameters after three months.
* Be monitored for any adverse effects during the study period. This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating the role of topical melatonin gel as an adjunct to conventional non-surgical periodontal therapy in improving periodontal clinical outcomes.