Effects of oral prophylaxis including tongue cleaning on halitosis and gingival inflammation in gingivitis patients-a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of oral prophylaxis including tongue scraping on level of halitosis, clinical periodontal parameters and local cytokine response in gingivitis patients.

Materials And Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 36 gingivitis patients were randomly assigned into two subgroups after scaling and polishing. Group 1 received oral hygiene instructions including the use of tongue scraper; group 2 received oral hygiene instructions alone without tongue cleaning. Levels of volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), organoleptic and tongue coating scores, clinical periodontal parameters and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected at baseline and 7 days after oral prophylaxis. GCF samples were analyzed using multiplexing analysis for the simultaneous measurements of cytokines. The Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, and Student's paired and unpaired t tests were used for statistical analysis.

Results: Statistically significant reductions were found in terms of clinical periodontal parameters in both groups. However, significant improvements in VSC levels, organoleptic and tongue coating scores were observed just in tongue scraping group. Moreover, the GCF levels of IL-1β and IL-8 significantly decreased after the treatment in group 1 according to the baseline values.

Conclusion: The present study indicated that oral prophylaxis including tongue scraping was effective in improving intra-oral halitosis and pro-inflammatory cytokine response in GCF in gingivitis patients.

Clinical Relevance: The results suggest that tongue scraping can be taken into consideration in order to manage gingival inflammation as well as VSC levels in gingivitis patients but further clinical studies are required to judge the clinical relevance.