The effects of chlorhexidine mouthwash on dental plaque and gingival bleeding of fasting people

Dental plaque is the main etiological factor in periodontal diseases and there is no study on using chlorhexidine by fasting people. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using chlorhexidine mouthwash on dental plaque and gingival bleeding of fasting people. Methods & Materials: This experimental, controlled, cross-matched clinical trial study was implemented on thirty individuals (men and women) with the mean age of 40±1 year who attended Periodontic Department of Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, and were divided randomly into two groups. Chlorhexidine mouthwash was used in the test group after dawn meal time (sahar) and breaking fasting time (eftar). The control group did not use any mouthwash. The plaque and gingival indices were measured in three stages the first on 2-3 days before the beginning of Holy month of Ramadan, the second after the first ten days, and the third following 4 days of washout period. After the second ten days of Ramadan the test and control groups were replaced by each other. The findings were analyzed by T test between the two groups and by paired T test in each group. The amount of dental plaque and gingival bleeding indices decreased significantly in individuals using chlorhexidine mouthwash (P<0.0001). The amount of dental plaque and gingival bleeding showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups with a better result for test group (P<0.001). Chlorhexidine mouthwash demonstrated positive effects on decreasing the amount of dental plaque and gingival bleeding in fasting people.