A 4-month study on the effect of chlorhexidine mouth washes on 50 soldiers

abstract – Aqueous solutions of chlorhexidine salts have been used as mouth washes to supplement routine oral hygiene in a group of young adults for a period of 4 months. In the first part of the study (2 months) the effect of plaque formation and gingival condition in the presence of calculus and rough surfaces was studied. Under such circumstances the chlorhexidine mouth washes reduced the amount of plaque on an average of 66%, whereas the gingival inflammation was reduced by 24% in the same period. In the next 2 months the effect of chlorhexidine was studied on scaled and polished teeth. The plaque reduction was now 84% and the Gingival Index values were reduced by 43% after subgingival scaling. No effect on gingival inflammation adjacent to pockets exceeding 3 mm was observed.