Evaluating the properties of two herbal mouthwashes and their eff ect on total leukocyte count after Phase I therapy

Introduction: Periodontal diseases are among the most common infectious diseases aff ecting human kind and can lead to destruction of the periodontal ligament, cementum, gingiva and alveolar bone. Plaque is the main etiological cause for gingival infl ammation. Since a greater part of population is not able to perform plaque control eff ectively, the onus lies on the dental health care provider to impart the correct knowledge about the oral hygiene aids and adjunctive use of various plaque control agents. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 patients aged between 30 to 45 years with chronic generalized periodontitis with previously untreated periodontitis were recruited from the Department of Periodontics and oral Implantology, K.D. dental college and hospital, Mathura, India. Scaling and root planning was done in single sitting for all the groups. Clinical parameters; Silness and Loe plaque index, Loe and Silness gingival index and Russell’s periodontal index were recorded at pretreatment/baseline, at 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks after SRP. Blood was collected from median cubital vein in vacutainer and was send to laboratory and TLC was measured at baseline and after 4 weeks of Phase I therapy. Study groups: Group I: 20 patients given commercially available preformulated Colgate plax Green Tea mouthwash Group II: 20 patients given commercially available preformulated Colgate plax Mint mouthwash Group III: 20 patients given saline rinse Result: 60 adult patients with previously untreated chronic generalized periodontitis were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criterias. After the statistical analysis using paired t test there was signifi cant reduction in the plaque score was observed with both the mouthwashes but to a greater extent in patients who used green tea mouthwash for one month. Conclusion: Herbal mouthwashes are valuable in the treatment of periodontal diseases by reducing the infl ammation. The present study suggest that there is a signifi cant reduction seen in the plaque, gingival & periodontal scores with both the mouthwashes but green tea mouthwash proved to be more benefi cial than mint mouthwash with modest reduction in the TLC count.Herbal products have shown promising results with minimal side eff ects.