Comparative Evaluation of the Efficacy of Probiotic, Herbal and Chlorhexidine Mouthwash on Gingival Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Due to inherent limitations of Chlorhexidine (CHX), search for an effective and potentially safe anti-plaque agent has led to emergence of alternative products.

Aim: The present study evaluated the comparative efficacy of probiotic, herbal and CHX mouthwashes on gingival health of healthy individuals.

Materials And Methods: The present study was randomized parallel group controlled trial. A group of 45 healthy subjects in the age group of 18-21 years received complete supragingival scaling at baseline and study variables viz., Oral Hygiene Index - Simplified (OHI-S), Plaque Index (PI) and Gingival Index (GI) were recorded. Subjects were then randomly divided into three groups (15 in each group) and were randomly intervened with three different mouthwashes i.e., HiOra mouthwash, CHX mouthwash and Probiotic mouthwash. Variables were again recorded on the seventh and 14 day after use of mouthwashes and data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis.

Results: There was no significant difference in the efficacy of CHX, HiOra regular and probiotic mouthwashes on plaque accumulation, gingival health and oral hygiene status.

Conclusion: Herbal and probiotic mouthwashes can prove to be effective alternatives to CHX with minimal side effects.