COMPARISON OF AN ESSENTIAL OIL MOUTH RINSE AND CHLORHEXIDINE ON 4-DAY INTERPROXIMAL PLAQUE REGROWTH

ABSTRACT Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Essential Oils mouthrinse (Listerine®) on plaque formation in interproximal areas with Chlorhexidine and Sterile water. Materials & Methods The study was an observer-blind, 4-day plaque regrowth, cross over study. Sixty (60) dental students volunteered to participate in the study. They got a base line scale and polish then used one mouthrinse for 4 days as the only oral hygiene method and then plaque index (PI) was scored using Sillness & Lõe plaque index. After that they returned to their normal oral hygiene methods for 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks the second period of the study was done in the same way of the first period. The only difference was that they used another mouthrinse. Again after the 4-days period plaque index (PI) was scored using Sillness & Lõe plaque index. Then they returned to their normal oral hygiene methods for 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks the third period of the study was done in the same way of the first and second periods. The only difference was that they used another mouthrinse which was different from the first and second one. Again after the 4-days period plaque index (PI) was scored using Sillness & Lõe plaque index. Then the mean plaque index was measured for each participant and then for each mouthrinse. Also the % of plaque free surfaces and the % of interproximal plaque free surfaces were measured for each mouthrinse. Results The lowest mean plaque score was recorded for Chlorhexidine (0.54). The second best anti-plaque agent was Listerine recording a mean plaque index score of 0.95, and the least effective anti-plaque mouthrinse was sterile water with a score of 1.54. The highest % of plaque-free surfaces was obtained with the Chlorhexidine mouthrinse (54%), whilst Listerine only produced 25% plaque-free surfaces, and sterile water produced 13%. The highest Interproximal plaque-free surfaces were obtained with the Chlorhexidine mouthrinse which was 42%, while Listerine produced 22% interproximal plaque-free surfaces and sterile water only produced 9%. Conclusion Analysis of variance and construction of 95% confidence intervals showed that Both Chlorhexidine and Essential Oils significantly reduced plaque compared to the sterile water. In this study Listerine proved to be less effective than Chlorhexidine as an anti-plaque agent. However it may still be used as an adjunctive anti-plaque mouthrinse with brushing and flossing