Comparative Anti-plaque and Anti-gingivitis Efficacy of Two Commercially Available Mouthwashes - 4 Weeks Clinical Study

Therapeutic mouthwashes are often recommended as an adjunct to mechanical plaque control for prevention of plaque formation and maintain gingival health. The present clinical study was for the duration of four weeks and focused on two specific mouthwashes: HEXIDINE (0.2% chlorhexidine) and SEFDENT (a dual action mouthrinse with clove oil and sorbitol, sol isopropyl myristate, sodium saccharin) both claims to be effective in the treatment of gingivitis. HEXIDINE (Chlorhexidine) has long-standing research to substantiate its safety and efficacy whereas the SEFDENT mouthwash used in this study is a new mouthwash with many components in it. Subjects were randomly allocated into either the test group (n = 10,Sefdent) or the control group (n= 10,Hexidine) Plaque levels were measured using the Turesky's modification of the Quigley & Hein Plaque Index (PI), and gingivitis was evaluated and recorded with the Gingival Index (Loe and Silness 1963) (GI) at 0 day, 15th days and 30th day. All Subjects were instructed with oral hygiene instructions. First scaling and root planning was performed on all subjects and then they were asked to rinse twice daily with one of the mouthwashes (HEXIDINE or SEFDENT). Both the mouth-rinses studies turned out to be statistically significant but control group (HEXIDINE) showed significant improvement in plaque index, gingival scores, when compared to test group (SEFDENT). This shows that chlorhexidine remains a gold standard in improving the gingival status.