Differences in antimicrobial activity of 0.2% Chlorhexidine mouthwash and a Herbal mouth rinse formulation-A salivary bacterial counts study

Background: Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) mouthwash has earned eponym of gold standard to treat or prevent periodontal disease. However, it has been reported to have local side-effects on long-term use. To explore a herbal alternative, the present study was carried out to evaluate the clinical antimicrobial activity of two mouth rinses. One containing 0.2% CHX and other containing herbal mouth rinse (HM). Methods: This randomized, crossover salivary bacterial counts, was carried out on a sample of 10 healthy volunteers rinsed for 1 minute with 0.2% CHX and for 1 minute with HM. Saliva samples were obtained before rinsing, and after 5 min, and 1, 3, 5 and 7 h. These samples were cultured both aerobically and anaerobically. Percentages of survival, in regard to baseline, were calculated for each time point. Results: Results were available both for aerobic and anaerobic salivary bacteria. Statistically significant difference is observed between Herbal and 0.2% CHX mouth wash at 1 hr (P < 0.05), 3 hrs (P < 0.01), 5 hrs (P < 0.01) as well as at 7 hrs (P < 0.001) and HM and 0.2% CHX mouth wash at 5 minutes after using mouth wash (P < 0.05), 1 hr (P < 0.05), 3 hrs (P < 0.01), 5 hrs (P < 0.01) as well as at 7 hrs (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results, this clinical study demonstrated that significant reduction of microbial activity was observed in 0.2% CHX when compared with HM containing bibhitaka, nagavali and salvodora persica as main ingredients.