English

Abstract

BACKGROUND The objective of the study was to determine the efficacy of Triphala as a preprocedural mouth rinse & comparing the efficacy with chlorhexidine and betadine in reducing the viable microbial load in dental aerosols. METHODS 32 patients with chronic periodontitis were randomly allocated into 4 groups (A, B, C & D) of 8 patients each who received 0.2 % chlorhexidine (CHX), 6 % Triphala (TRP), 2 % betadine and water respectively as a pre-procedural mouth rinse. Blood agar plates were placed on the operator’s chest area and the patient’s chest area for collecting the aerosols. The agar plates were then incubated at 370C for 48 hours and colony-forming units (CFUs) were counted. RESULTS CFU was significantly reduced in groups A, B & C compared to group D. Intergroup comparison showed no significant difference in the efficacy of 0.2 % CHX and 6 % TRP with P-value 0.058 in the operator’s area and with a significant difference of Pvalue 0.014 in the patient’s area. 2 % betadine was found to be least effective among the 3 test groups. The number of CFUs was greater at the patient’s chest area than that of the operator. CONCLUSIONS This study reinforces the importance of preprocedural mouth rinse. Triphala showed near equal efficacy to CHX, which is considered the gold standard in aerosol reduction and also better than 2 % betadine. Therefore, it can be considered as an alternative to CHX as a preprocedural mouth rinse. KEY WORDS Triphala, Chlorhexidine, Betadine, Aerosols, Colony Forming Units (CFUs)