Effectiveness of Herbal Mouthwash among Visually Impaired Residential School Students

INTRODUCTION: Visually impaired patients are unable to visualize the plaque on tooth surfaces resulting in inadequate plaque removal and therefore the progression of dental caries and inflammatory disease of the periodontium. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of herbal mouth wash in reduction of plaque and gingivitis among visually impaired children. METHODS: Randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted with parallel groups study, comprising 6 to 20 year old visually impaired children, 20 in each group (herbal mouth wash or chlorhexidine mouthwash or placebo mouthwash). Plaque and gingival index were recorded at baseline and at the end of the study. Children were asked to use the mouth wash twice daily for two weeks. Analysis was done using Chi-square test for categorical data and Mann-Whitney U test/independent t-test and one way analysis of variance/Kruskal-wallis H test for quantitative data. The level of significance was set at P<0.05. RESULTS: Participants showed fair oral hygiene (mean plaque scores of 1.14±0.53) and moderate gingivitis (mean gingival scores of 1.12±0.45) with no significant difference between three groups (P=0.47 and 0.84, respectively). Significant reduction of plaque and gingivitis was seen at follow-up with no significant difference between herbal and chlorhexidine mouthwash. However, significant difference was found between placebo and herbal/chlorhexidine mouthwash. CONCLUSIONS: Herbal mouthwash showed significant effect on reducing plaque formation and gingivitis in visually impaired students. The effectiveness of herbal mouthwash was analogous to the gold standard chlorhexidine.