title: Effect of Herbal and Fluoride Mouth Rinses onStreptococcus mutansand Dental Caries among 12-15-Year-Old School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: To assess and compare the effect of herbal and fluoride mouth rinses onStreptococcus mutanscount and glucan synthesis byStreptococcus mutansand dental caries, a parallel group placebo controlled randomized trial was conducted among 240 schoolchildren (12-15 years old). Participants were randomly divided and allocated into Group I (0.2% fluoride group), Group II (herbal group), and Group III (placebo group). All received 10 ml of respective mouth rinses every fortnight for a period of one year. Intergroup and intragroup comparison were done forStreptococcus mutanscount and glucan synthesis byStreptococcus mutansand dental caries.Streptococcus mutanscount showed a statistically significant difference between Group I and Group III (p= 0.035) and also between Group II and Group III (p= 0.039). Glucan concentration levels showed a statistically significant difference (p= 0.024) between Group II and Group III at 12th month. Mean DMF scores showed no statistical difference between the three groups (p= 0.139). No difference in the level of significance was seen in the intention-to-treat and per-protocol analysis. The present study showed that both herbal and fluoride mouth rinses, when used fortnightly, were equally effective and could be recommended for use in school-based health education program to control dental caries. Trial registration number is CTRI/2015/08/006070.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rajas Dental College & Hospital, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Vinej
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1940-9781
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Somaraj
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Rekha P
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7272-6383
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Shenoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Ganesh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shenoy Panchmal
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Vijaya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Praveen S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Jodalli
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Laxminarayan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sonde