The Effect of Triphala and Chlorhexidine Mouthwash on Dental Plaque and Gingival Inflammation: An Open Labelled Clinical Study.

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Dr Shrikanth Muralidharan, Dr Mayur Giri, Dr Swapna Patankar, Dr Amit Pralhad Kamble, Dr Dhanashri Amit Kamble, Dr Nasi Ismail

Abstract

Mechanical removal of plaque by means of brushing and flossing is time consuming and is also technique sensitive. Hence effective plaque control of 100% may not be rendered always by these techniques. Adjuncts in the form of medication or mouthwashes are always recommended to assist tooth brushing in plaque control. The use of herbal mouthwashes has been a boon to control the oral health related problems. Triphala is one of the best known combinations used for various ailments in Ayurveda. The present study was aimed at comparing chlorhexidine and Triphala- as anti-plaque agent and for treating gingivitis among adult patients. 210 patients randomly were divided into the following 3 groups-


Group 1- Chlorhexidine (0.2%)


Group 2- Triphala (0.6%)


Group 3- Control group with no mouthwash


The examinations were done at baseline, 7 days and at 15 days using the Gingival index and plaque index. Chi Square test was done to compare the inter and intra group findings using SPSS        22.0         (IBM        Analytics, New York,                U.S.A). Even though higher percentage of patients showed greater improvement with Group 2 intervention than group 1, the difference was not found to be statistically significant after 7 days of observation. After 15 days, the Group 2 patients showed lesser plaque accumulation compared to Group 1, yet this difference was not found to be statistically significant. With respect to gingivitis, even though more patients were showed improvement with respect to group 2 than group 1 after 7 days and 15 days of observation, the difference was not found to be significant. Overall, the intervention with Triphala provided better results than with chlorhexidine, but this was not statistically significant.. Triphala and chlorhexidine help assisting tooth-brushing for control of plaque and resultant gingivitis. Triphala can be used as a substitute to avoid the side effects of the long term use of chlorhexidine. Triphala can be used with no side effects as a treatment modality among cases with gingivitis and for plaque control..

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