CLINICAL EFFECTS OF CHLORHEXIDINE MOUTHWASHES ON PATIENTS UNDERGOING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT

This study compared the short-term clinical effect of 0.12% chlorhexid ine gluconate and placebo mouthrinses in 30 adolescents (ages 11 to 15 ) undergoing orthodontic treatment. Subjects were randomized into expe rimental (CHX) and control (C) groups. Baseline values were recorded 1 0 days after prophylaxis and included Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Inde x (GI), Rentention Index (RI), Discoloration Index (DI), and probing d epths (PD). Both groups (CHX and C) received soft toothbrushes with in structions to brush twice daily, as well as the CHX and placebo mouthr inses, respectively, with oral and written instructions for rinsing tw ice daily with 15 ml for 30 seconds. Reevaluations were performed 1, 2 , and 3 months after baseline, except for the DI and PD, which were on ly assessed at 3 months. The Student's t test and the paired t test we re used to analyze the data at the P < 0.05 level of significance. No differences between groups were seen at baseline for any of the parame ters. At 30 days, there was a significant difference for the RI betwee n CHX (0.15 +/- 0.16; mean +/- SD) and C (0.05 +/- 0.06) at the mesial buccal, and for CHX (0.07 +/- 0.10) and C (0.02 +/- 0.05) at the midb uccal. The 60-day evaluation showed similar results. At 90 days, lower PI were observed in the CHX group at the distal buccal (0.38 +/- 0.19 ), midbuccal (0.22 +/- 0.17), and mesial buccal (0.47 +/- 0.22) sites as compared with the C group (0.97 +/- 0.38, 0.83 +/- 0.40, and 0.95 /- 0.43, respectively). A similar trend was noted with the GI, as the lower values were related to the CHX group. The changes of the PI and GI, at 30, 60, and 90 days, as analyzed by the paired t test, were sta tistically significant in the case of the experimental group, as the c hanges in the means were a reflection of significantly lower scores ob served in the experimental group. After 3 months, the DI showed higher scores in the experimental group as compared with the control, but th ey were not statistically significant. Deeper PD were detected in the C group at 90 days, and they were statistically significant, except fo r the midlingual site. The RI did not show significant differences at 90 days, but higher values were recorded in the CHX group. The data in dicate that the use of the CHX, in addition to regular oral hygiene ha bits, was effective in reducing plaque and gingivitis in adolescents u ndergoing orthodontic treatment.