COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF CHLORHEXIDINE AND SODIUM BICARBONATE DENTIFRICES IN PLAQUE AND GINGIVAL INFLAMMATION REDUCTION: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the effi cacy of Chlorhexidine dentifrice compared to Sodium Bicarbonate dentifrice in plaque and gingival Infl ammation reduction. Materials and Methods: From May 2022 to August 2022, a randomized controlled experiment was carried out in the Periodontology Department of Sardar Begum Dental College and Hospital Peshawar. Using WHO formulae for sample size, 98 patients were selected. The age range of the patient was chosen between 13-40 years. The mean age presentation was 19.7 ± 4.9 years. The females were N=56 (57.1%) predominant than males N=42 (42.9%). The patients were placed into two groups of 49 each. Group A received dentifrice containing chlorhexidine, whereas Group B received dentifrice containing sodium bicarbonate. The data was entered into a structured proforma. SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze data. The Chi-Square test was used to compare the means of the two groups. Values of ≤ .05 were considered signifi cant. Results: The mean plaque scores for both groups are shown in Table 7. Group A (Chlorhexidine group) participants had an initial mean plaque score of 2.7, while the plaque score after the intervention was 1.2. The initial mean plaque score was 2.7 in the participants of group B (Sodium Bicarbonate group), while the mean plaque score after intervention was 1.75. This shows that both dentifrices reduced plaque but chlorhexidine was more eff ective than sodium bicarbonate in plaque reduction. Similarly, both (Chlorhexidine and Sodium Bicarbonate) reduced the gingival index score, but chlorhexidine was more eff ective than sodium bicarbonate in reducing gingival inflammation. Conclusion: Both the dentifrices show a significant reduction in both the plaque scores and gingival scores after usage. Chlorhexidine group showed a notable reduction in plaque and gingival scores as compared to sodium bicarbonate.