title: Are herbal mouthwash efficacious over chlorhexidine on the dental plaque?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the effect of herbal extract mouthwash and chlorhexidine mouthwash on the dental plaque level.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects (60 healthy medical students aged ranges between 20 and 25 years) were randomly divided into two groups, that is, the herbal group and the chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash group. The data were collected at the baseline and 3 days. The plaque was disclosed using erythrosine disclosing agent and their scores were recorded using the Quigley and Hein plaque index modified by Turesky-Gilmore-Glickman. Statistical analysis was carried out later to compare the effect of all the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our result showed that the chlorhexidine group shows a greater decrease in plaque score followed by herbal extract, but the result was statistically insignificant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that herbal mouthwash may prove to be an effective agent owing to its ability to reduce plaque level, especially in low socioeconomic strata.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Institute of Dental Science, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India ; General Secretary, International Society for Holistic Dentistry, Uttrakhand, India.
authors.forename: Devanand
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, D.Y Patil Dental College, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Swapna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nayan
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative, Endodontics and Esthetics Dentistry, JSS Dental College and Hospital, Mysore, India.
authors.forename: Harshad K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Tippanawar
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, JSS Dental College and Hospital, Mysore, India.
authors.forename: Gaurav I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Teerthanker Mahaveer Dental College and Research Centre, Moradabad, India.
authors.forename: Ankita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, Jaipur Dental College, Jaipur, India.
authors.forename: Rizwan K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Momin
authors.affiliation: Principal, Government Degree college, Banbasa, Uttrakhand, India.
authors.forename: Rajendra Kumar
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gupta
keywords: Chlorhexidine; herbal mouthwash; holistic dentistry; plaque index