The Mouthwash War - Chlorhexidine vs. Herbal Mouth Rinses: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Mouthwashes are often prescribed in dentistry for prevention and treatment of several oral conditions. In the recent times the use of naturally occurring products what is otherwise known as grandmothers remedy are used on a large scale. This has now called for a newer age of mouth washes but is the new age mouth washes at par with the gold standard or even better than them this study investigates.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of two broad categories of mouth washes namely chlorhexidine and herbal mouth washes.

Materials and methods: Eleven randomized control studies were pooled in for the meta-analysis. The search was done from the Pub Med Central listed studies with the use keywords with Boolean operators (chlorhexidine, herbal, mouth wash, randomized control trials). The fixed effects model was used for analysis.

Results: This meta-analysis brings to light, the fact that a wide range of newer herbal products are now available. As with a plethora of herbal mouthwashes available it is the need of the hour to validate their potential use and recommendation. This study found that only two studies favor the use of herbal products and four studies favor the use of chlorhexidine, of the 11 studies that were analyzed.

Conclusion: More studies are required under well controlled circumstances to prove that herbal products can equate or replace the 'gold standard' chlorhexidine. Herbal products are heterogeneous in nature, their use should be advised only with more scientific proof.

Keywords: Chlorhexidine; Plaque index; Randomized control trials.

Figures

[Table/Fig-2]:

Forrest plot using the fixed effects model for chlorhexidine and herbal extracts.