Abstract
Chlorhexidine mouthwash has earned eponym of gold standard to treat and/or prevent periodontal diseases. However, the present study was carried out to explore an alternative herbal mouthwash. To compare the anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis efficacy of a 0.25% lemongrass oil mouthwash to that of 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash. A double-blinded parallel designed clinical trial with 60 subjects was taken for the study. Baseline plaque index (PI) & gingival index (GI) score was recorded. Oral prophylaxis was done and the plaque score was set at zero. Then, subjects were randomly allocated into 3 groups (N=20 in each): 0.25% lemongrass oil mouthwash, 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash and oral prophylaxis only. Subjects were asked to swish with respective mouthwash twice daily for 21 days. Subjects were again re-evaluated on 14(th) and 21(st) day for GI and PI. Comparison of the mean difference among the variables was performed by parametric tests. Lemongrass oil mouthwash group showed highest reduction in GI & PI at both 14(th) and 21(st) day, which was statistically significant (p≤0.05). Lemongrass oil mouthwash can also be used as a good herbal alternative to chlorhexidine mouthwash, so further studies are needed.
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