Table 2. The Schedule of the Trial

Period	Screening	Intervention
Week		1*		2		3		4
Assessment		Visit1	Visit2						Visit3
Usual care group, Herbal mouthwash group		Visit1	Visit2						Visit3
Acupuncture therapy group		T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	T6	T7	T8
Informed consent form	●
Assigning a Screening Number	●
Basic characteristics of subjects	●
Random assignment		●
Oral Hygiene Education		●			●
Visit Schedule Training		●	○	○	●	○	○	○
Acupuncture Treatment		○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Objective clinical outcomes for periodontal disease†		●							●
Subjective clinical outcomes for periodontal disease‡		●			●				●
Cost Analysis		●							●
Confirmation of Adverse Reactions, Vital sign		●	○	○	●	○	○	○	●
Verification of Changes in Concurrent Medication (Treatment)		●	○	○	●	○	○	○	●
Exploratory factor analysis§		●							●
Therapeutic Reliability/Expectancy Questionnaire		●
Patient Satisfaction Survey									●

● Applicable to all subjects
○ Applicable to acupuncture treatment group only
If the evaluation for selection/exclusion criteria can be made during the screening visit, it can be conducted together with Visit 1.
Pocket depth, bleeding on probing, gingival index, plaque index
Visual analog scale, euroqol-5 dimensions-5 levels
Collection of human specimens, eight principles identification questionnaire