Journal of Oral Hygiene & Health
Open Access

Research Article

Effect of a Botanical Mouth Rinse on Dental Plaque Formation: A Randomized, Double-blinded, Placebo-controlled Trial

William Z Levine^1*, Noah Samuels² and Ray C Williams³

¹Jerusalem Perio Center, Jerusalem, Israel

²Tal Center for Integrative Medicine, Institute of Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

³Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine, Stony Brook, New York, USA

*Corresponding Author:

William Z Levine
Jerusalem Perio Center
101 Derech Hevron St.
Entrance A Jerusalem 93480, Israel
Tel: +972-2-563-3250
Fax: +972-2-5661508
E-mail: perio@bezeqint.net

Received Date: July 21, 2014; Accepted Date: August 04, 2014; Published Date: August 10, 2014

Citation: Levine WZ, Samuels N, Williams RC (2014) Effect of a Botanical Mouth Rinse on Dental Plaque Formation: A Randomized, Double-blinded, Placebo-controlled Trial. J Oral Hyg Health 2:150. doi:10.4172/2332-0702.1000150

Copyright: © 2014 Levine WZ, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background and Purpose: Current approaches for controlling dental plaque are limited by technical difficulties and side effects (e.g., staining, ulceration). PeriActive mouth rinse (Izun Pharmaceuticals Corporation, New York, NY) contains botanical compounds with anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and tissue reparatory properties. This study examined the effect of the PeriActive rinse on plaque formation and gingival inflammation in an experimental gingivitis model.

Methods: Healthy volunteers with mild-to-moderate gingivitis were randomized and blinded to either PeriActive or a color/taste-matched water-only rinse. Treatment was self-administered t.i.d. for two weeks, during which participants abstained from any oral hygiene practice (brushing, flossing, etc.). Gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and number of bleeding sites (as determined by bleeding-upon-probing) were measured at baseline, and again at the end of the study period.

Results: A total of 54 participants completed the full study protocol (PeriActive, n=23; water-only controls, n=31). GI values increased (i.e., worsened) more significantly among water-only controls when compared to the PeriActive treatment group (p<0.001 vs. p=0.182; between-group Δ progression, p=0.004), as did PI scores (p<0.001 vs. p=0.005; between-group Δ progression, p=0.002) and number of bleeding sites (p=0.001 vs. p=0.304; betweengroup Δ progression, p=0.001). No significant adverse effects were reported in either group.

Conclusions: PeriActive mouth rinse is a safe and effective anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory rinse, which significantly reduces the progression of gingivitis and dental plaque formation and the number of spontaneous bleeding sites in an experimental gingivitis model. Further research is needed in order to confirm and extend these findings.

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