EVALUATION AND COMPARISON OF TWO COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MOUTHRINSES IN REDUCING AEROLISED BACTERIA DURING ULTRASONIC SCALING WHEN USED AS A PREPROCEDURAL RINSE

Abstract

Objective: To compare and evaluate the effect of 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate andcommercially available herbal mouthrinse in reducing aerosolized bacteria when usedas a preprocedural mouth rinse.Materials and methods: A total of 45 patients were selected and randomly dividedinto three equal groups. As the preprocedural rinse, patients belonging to group I,group II and group III rinsed with distilled water, 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash(Clohex®) and herbal mouthwash (Hiora®), respectively, for 60 seconds. Aerosolsproduced during the oral prophylaxis procedure were collected on blood agar platesby exposing the plates to the patient’s and dentist’s chest area, and the plates wereincubated at 37°C under aerobic conditions for 48 h. The number of colony formingunits (CFU) in the aerosol were counted and statistically analyzed.Results: At both the locations the mean CFU were highest in Group I followed byGroup III and Group II. The 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash was superiorin significantly reducing the aerosolized bacteria during scaling, followed by herbalmouthrinse and distilled water (p≤0.0001).Conclusions: The results of the present study clearly indicate that preproceduralrinsing with 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate was significantly more effective thanherbal mouthrinse in reducing the aerosolized bacteria during ultrasonic scaling.Therefore a preprocedural rinse can significantly reduce the risk for crosscontamination.