The use of chlorhexidine mouthwash and diagnosis of primary hypertension in a large hospital cohort.

Objectives: Small-scale studies reported increased blood pressure in patients using chlorhexidine mouthwash with the rationale that the rinse mitigates nitric oxide production by oral bacteria. The present study evaluated whether prior use of chlorhexidine mouthwash can be associated with an increased odds ratio for primary hypertension in a large hospital cohort.

Materials And Methods: The i2b2 NIH-established platform was used to search for deidentified medical information coded by ICD-10 for subjects with a hypertension diagnosis who have used chlorhexidine rinses before between October 2015 and May 2024.