COMPARING THE ANTIGINGIVITIS, ANTIPLAQUE EFFECTIVENESS OF CRANBERRY AND CHLORHEXIDINE MOUTH RINSE – A SINGLE BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL | PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Context: Dental caries have been known to be the single oral infectious disease most preventable and widespread. Since tooth brushing is considered to be the most common technique of oral hygiene, dentifrices are also the most ideal means of delivering antibacterial agents on a daily basis. The best anti-plaque property is found to be chlorhexidine mouthwash and is considered the gold standard. As fresh fruit, juice, and even as medicine, cranberry is used. It has functions that are antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor. We can therefore see that its effect on different oral infections needs to be evaluated.

Goal: The aim of the study is to compare the 0.6 percent cranberry mouthwash against gingivitis, anti plaque against 0.2 percent chlorhexidine mouthwash in undergraduate dental students.

Materials and Methods: A single blinded, parallel group clinical trial performed at Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, was the present study. Two groups of 20 participants (aged 18-22 years) were divided randomly into Group A (n=10) and Group B (n=10) and each received 5 mL of cranberry mouthwash or chlorhexidine mouthwash twice daily for 7 days. The gingival index and plaque index were registered at the baseline and on the 7th day. Before the study started, all the participants were told about their willingness to participate in the study. In the form of mean and standard deviation, descriptive statistics were expressed. To find the normality of the data, Shapiro-test Wilk's was used. The Wilcoxon-signed Rank test was used for each category to compare the mean differences in plaque and gingival index scores before and after treatment. To estimate differences between the mean Plaque index score and mean gingival index between the classes, Mann-Whitney' U Test.

Results and Discussion: This research indicates a substantial decrease in the gingival index and plaque index before and after cranberry and chlorhexidine mouthwash use. Thus, a statistically significant decrease in mean plaque and mean gingival index scores was observed in the present study in both the baseline and 7th day classes.

Conclusion: We can conclude from this study that herbal products such as cranberry can act as effectively as chlorhexidine to improve oral hygiene with additional systemic benefits and minimal long-term side effects. In assessing the advantages and side effects of such herbal extracts, further thorough studies are needed.

Please see the link :- https://www.ikprress.org/index.php/PCBMB/article/view/5527