The Efficacy and Safety of a Herbal Toothpaste in Reducing Gingivitis: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Allocation Clinical Trial.

Jinfeng He,Nanyu Luo,Lei Lei,Tao Hu,Fangzhi Zhu,Li Cheng,Yalan Deng,Ting Zhong

doi:10.1155/2019/3764936

Jinfeng He, Nanyu Luo + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3764936

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Abstract

Aim To examine the efficacy and safety of the toothpaste containing Rhizoma Chuanxiong and Rhizoma Imperatae extracts in reducing gingivitis. Method A double-blind clinical trial was conducted, in which 120 volunteers were randomly assigned to the test group (N = 60) or the control group (N = 60). Tetramethylpyrazine, senkyunolide A, ferulic acid, and ligustilide are the main effective components of Rhizoma Chuanxiong and Rhizoma Imperatae contains the main components of cylindrin, carotene, 5-hydroxytryptamine, potassium, and calcium. The control group used placebo toothpaste containing neither Rhizoma Chuanxiong extract nor Rhizoma Imperatae extract. Plaque, gingivitis, and bleeding were assessed at the baseline, prior to the supragingival scaling, and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Results During the trial, both test and control groups showed a decreasing trend compared to the baseline. At the end of 12 weeks, with respect to Gingival Index (GI), Bleeding Index (BI), and Bleeding on Probing percentage (BOP%) scores, there were significant differences between test and control groups (GI, P<0.001, BI, P<0.001, and BOP%, P<0.001, resp.). After 4 weeks of usage, there were no statistically significant differences in all of GI, BI, and BOP% scores between the two groups. However, the decrease became statistically significant at next two intervals (GI, P<0.001, BI, P<0.001, and BOP%, P<0.001, resp.) in the efficiency of GI, BI, and BOP% which was 8.04%, 11.02%, and 37.16%, respectively. There were no treatment-related adverse events reported. Conclusion The toothpaste containing Rhizoma Chuanxiong and Rhizoma Imperatae extracts was well tolerated and significantly reduced gingivitis and bleeding after usage for 12 weeks. There was better improvement at molars, and the more serious the baseline status was, the better the efficacy was.

Highlights

Chronic gingivitis is one of the most common oral diseases with high prevalence around the world [1]
A survey of the prevalence and severity of gingivitis in American adults shows that the prevalence of gingivitis among adults ranged from 56% to 94% [2]
Even though the factor causing gingival lesions to be converted into periodontitis has not been well understood, current theory holds that the gingival lesion is the precursor of periodontitis [3]

Summary

Introduction

Chronic gingivitis is one of the most common oral diseases with high prevalence around the world [1]. Recent studies have found that gingivitis is associated with a number of systemic diseases [4]. Dental plaque is the major etiological and initiating factor for the development of gingivitis [6]. It is considered that individual continuous removal of dental plaque is the most effective means of preventing and controlling gingivitis, in which brushing teeth and other mechanical methods to remove plaque are generally recognized as effective strategies [7]. Due to the limitation of mechanical methods, the addition of some safe and effective drugs to prevent gingivitis in toothpaste is considered to be a good supplementary to the control of mechanical plaque [8,9,10]. Chinese herbal medicinal ingredients have become the focus of research because of their natural, relatively low toxicity and cultural background [14,15,16]

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