Comparative Evaluation of Effects of Rinsing with Green Tea on Streptococcus Mutans Count in Plaque with that of Chlorhexidine Mouth Wash and Plain Water: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Chlorhexidine mouthwash is conventionally used antibacterial agent but it has reported side-effects on its long term use. Herbal mouthwash can be an effective alternative to gold standard chlorhexidine mouth wash on long term use. Materials and Methods: It was a single centre multiple arm parallel placebo controlled randomized controlled trial. A total of 90 participants were selected for the study and were divided in 3 groups ie Group A(2% Green Tea ), Group B(0,2% Chlorhexidine) , Group C(Distilled water) by envelope method. The participants were stratified according to gender to ensure that equal number of males and females participate in the study. The study was conducted in two phases. In Phase 1 Baseline plaque samples were collected before rinsing with mouthwash In 2nd phase plaque samples were collected after 7 days of using the rinse . Baseline plaque samples and plaque samples collected after 7 days of rinsing were subjected to microbial analysis to assess the effect of intervention in reducing Streptococcusmutans count in plaque after using the rinse . Paired –t test was used for within group comparison and One Way ANOVA test was used for between group comparison. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant . Results: The mean reduction in Streptococcus mutans count in plaque sample was more in green tea and Chlorhexidine group in comparison to plain water group and the values were statistically significant(p0.05). Conclusion: Chlorhexidine mouthwash is still the most superior antibacterial agent , but side effects on its long term use cannot be neglected . Green tea mouthwash , a herbal antibacterial agent is equally efficacious and effective as conventional chlorhexidine mouth-wash with pleasant taste and no side –effects .Hence , it can be used as an alternative to conventional chlorhexidine mouth-wash on routine basis as an adjunct to mechanical plaque removal for a longer period of time