Antiplaque and antimicrobial efficacy of polyherbal mouth rinse among adult human volunteers – A short term randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Abstract Systematic evaluation of plant extracts and their combinations offers new insights into the development of innovative drugs from plants. The authors evaluated the antiplaque and antimicrobial efficacy of a polyherbal mouth rinse, using 0.2% chlorhexidine as positive and saline based mouth rinse as negative controls among adult human volunteers. Thirty eligible adult human volunteers were recruited and pre intervention prophylaxis was carried out to reduce their plaque scores to zero. Participants were randomly assigned to three different categories and given coded mouth rinse bottles containing either saline, a poly herbal mouth rinse containing Acacia nilotica, Murraya koenigii Linn Sprengel, Eucalyptus hybrid, and Psidium Guajava combined extracts at 1%, or 0.2% chlorhexidine. Participants were requested to use 10 ml of their assigned mouth rinse twice a day and refrain from oral hygiene practices for four days. On the fifth day following intervention, plaque buildup was assessed by a blinded investigator and supragingival plaque samples were collected. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected before and 60\u2009min after mouth rinsing. Plaque samples were used in microbial assay, while saliva samples were used for assessing change in salivary pH. Post intervention plaque build-up, S. mutans and total viable counts were significantly higher in saline users compared to others, with no difference in salivary flow and pH. However, the difference between the polyherbal and chlorhexidine groups was not statistically significant. The authors conclude that the polyherbal mouth rinse merits further investigation as a potential alternative to chlorhexidine for preventing and controlling dental caries and plaque induced dental diseases.