Vol. 10, Issue 3, Part D (2024)

Herbs are nature’s gift to humans. They have various bioactive components which possess enormous medicinal value with least side effects. Over the recent years the use of these medicinal plants to treat oral conditions has resurfaced.

1.To check the anti-inflammatory effect of a commercially available herbal mouthwash containing pomegranate, grape fruit, Thymol vulgaris.

2.To compare the anti-inflammatory effect of the herbal mouthwash with that of Chlorhexidine.

Materials and Methods: Patients (males and females) having gingivitis and between the age 18 to 55 years were included in the study. Patients who were allergic to the herbs present in the mouthwash, those on antibiotics or any other mouthwash were excluded from the study. The plaque index (PI), Gingival Index (GI), and Sulcus bleeding index (SBI) were recorded at baseline and at 3 weeks. Scaling and root planing (SRP) was done for all patients and the patients were randomly allocated in one of the 3 groups: Group I: SRP and the test mouthwash, Group II: SRP and chlorhexidine mouthwash and Group III: SRP alone.

Results: Test mouthwash botanical oral rinse showed better results than control and CHX in relation to GI and SBI indices, but the results were not statistically significant. The results showed that botanical oral rinse show synergistic effect compared to CHX and control groups.

Conclusion: Botanical oral rinse containing Punica granatum, grapefruit seed extract, thymol has shown better anti-inflammatory effects than chlorhexidine though the results were not statistically significant.