Comparative evaluation of different herbal mouthwash with chlorhexidine on plaque and gingivitis

Abstract

Introduction: Due to several drawbacks of Chlorhexidine (CHX), search for an alternative and the potentially safe anti-plaque agent has led to the emergence of alternative products. Objectives: This study was done to assess the efficacy of green tea and Triphala herbal mouth wash over CHX mouthwashes on gingival health of healthy individuals. Methods: This study consisted of a total of 45 participants with 15 in each group; group I: chlorhexidine, Group-Ii-green tea and Group –III with Triphala mouth wash. All healthy participants in the age group of 20-25 years received complete supragingival scaling at baseline. All the groups are advised to use particular mouth rinse for 14 days’ and gingival index and plaque index was recorded at baseline and after 14 days. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: CHX showed lower gingival and plaque score after 14 days, while green tea had comparable results with chlorhexidine. But Triphala mouth was had lower values compared to the other two groups. Conclusion: Herbal (green tea and Triphala) mouthwashes can prove to be effective alternatives to CHX with minimal side ef-fects.