Homemade Herbal Mouthwash in Gingivitis. A Randomized Clinical Trial.

The Effect of Homemade Herbal Mouthwash Versus Chlorhexidine on Plaque Accumulation in Gingivitis. A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Gingivitis is a very common oral disease that may progress to the more destructive periodontitis if not treated. As oral plaque is a key player in gingivitis, plaque control by professional scaling and oral hygiene measures represents the main line of treatment.

Among the oral hygiene measures, using chlorhexidine mouthwash is considered the gold standard in mouthwashes. However, due to its side effects, a safer and more acceptable mouthwash is needed. Therefore, this study proposes mouthwashes made of infusion of natural herbs as an alternative.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Gingivitis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Chlorhexidine 0,12%; Drug: herbal Mouthwash

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 12
• Phase: Phase 3

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Plaque-induced gingivitis.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medically compromised.
• History of medications.
• Pregnant females.
• Periapical involvement in teeth.
• History of periodontal surgery.
• If gingivitis was due to local factor.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Chlorhexidine mouthwash	Drug: Chlorhexidine 0,12%; chlorhexidine 0.12% mouthwash twice daily for 7 days
Experimental: Herbal Homemade Mouthwash	Drug: herbal Mouthwash; Mouthwash made at home by boiling herbs in water and then saving the solution in a tightly closed container for daily use for 7 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
plaque index (O'Leary et al., 1972)	Plaque accumulation is tested on teeth with a probe. Number of sites having plaque accumulation will be divided by the total number of dental sites to get percentage of plaque accumulation.	7 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Bleeding on probing	Bleeding on probing is tested on teeth with a periodontal probe. Number of sites showing bleeding will be divided by the total number of dental sites to get percentage of bleeding on probing.	7 days
Changes in clinical signs of inflammation (Armitage, 2004)	Results will be in the form of (Yes/No); indicating if the gingival clinical condition (color and contour) was improved or not	7 days
Bleeding on brushing	Evaluation of extent of daily bleeding on brushing using VAS.	7 days
Patient's acceptance of the mouthwash	questionnaire	7 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cairo University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): February 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 10, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Periodontal Diseases; Mouth Diseases; Stomatognathic Diseases; Infections; Gingival Diseases; Gingivitis
• Other Study ID Numbers: ACU-Per3

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No