title: The Mouthwash War - Chlorhexidine vs. Herbal Mouth Rinses: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of two broad categories of mouth washes namely chlorhexidine and herbal mouth washes.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College , Ramapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: Sunayana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manipal
authors.affiliation: Senior lecturer, Department of Periodontology, Balaji Dental College , Chennai, Tamil nadu, India .
authors.forename: Sajjid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth Dental College and Hospital , Sangli, Maharashtra, India .
authors.forename: Umesh
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wadgave
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental college , Ramapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: Prabu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Duraiswamy
authors.affiliation: Dean, Department of Orthodontia, SRM Dental College , Ramapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ravi
keywords: Chlorhexidine; Plaque index; Randomized control trials