Background: Periodontitis is one of the most common ailments affecting the teeth, leading to the destruction of the supporting and surrounding tooth structure. Degradation of the collagenous matrix involves the activity of a group of enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases. Hence; the present study was conducted for evaluating matrix metalloproteinase-3 levels in gingival crevicular fluid in periodontal disease, health and after scaling and root planning. Materials & methods: A total of 50 patients who were diagnosed both clinical and radiographically as affected by periodontitis were enrolled. Another set of 25 subjects who came for routine dental check-up were included as healthy controls. 50 periodontitis subjects with further divided into two study groups as follows: Group A: Chronic periodontitis patients who didn’t underwent any treatment, Group B: Chronic periodontitis patients who were treated by scaling and root planing (SRP) only. All the patients were recalled in the morning and GCF collection was done. Gingival crevicular fluid enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay analysis for MMP-3. Results: Mean MMP-3 levels among the subjects of control group, Group A and Group B was found to be 0.39 ng/ml, 6.12 ng/ml and 3.69 ng/ml respectively. Significant results were obtained while comparing the mean MMP-3 levels among the subjects of the three study groups. Conclusion: Progression of periodontal diseases is accompanied by concomitant increase in MMP-3 concentrations Key words: Chronic periodontitis, Root planing.