Original Article

Year : 2021 | Volume : 9 | Issue : 2 | Page : 129 - 133

Effectiveness of Probiotic and Herbal Mouthwashes on Gingival Health among Children with Intellectual Disability: An Interventional Study

C. S. Aarthy, Swetha Gadde1 , Parangimalai Diwakar Madankumar

Departments of Public Health Dentistry and 1

Periodontics, Ragas Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Address for correspondence:

Dr. C. S. Aarthy,

Department of Public Health Dentistry, Ragas Dental College and Hospital, 2/102, East Coast Road, Uthandi, Chennai ‐ 600 119, Tamil Nadu, India.

E‐mail: aarthycharms@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:

Maintaining good oral health is particularly challenging among children with intellectual disability (ID) because of increased oral health risks due to underlying disease, limitations on access to care, and competing demands. For ID children, the standard oral hygiene procedures such as brushing and flossing are too difficult to practice due to reduced manual dexterity and difficulty for the caregivers to handle these tools. Moreover, usage of mouth rinses is a nightmare for parents of children with ID as they lack the dexterity to spit the mouthwashes. Although many studies support the use of chlorhexidine mouth rinses, it should be taken into account that the side effects of chlorhexidine are well documented, but the same is not so in case of herbal and probiotic mouth washes. With this milleu, this interventional study was formulated to compare the efficacy of probiotic and herbal mouth rinses on gingival health among intellectually disabled children.

Materials and Methods:

The present study included thirty children with ID aged 10–15 years at New Hope Child Development Centre. The participants were randomly divided into two Groups: I and II, with 15 children in each group as follows: group I: probiotic mouthwash and Group II: herbal mouth wash. Baseline scores of plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) were recorded. The designated mouth rinses were distributed to the respective groups, and they were instructed to rinse once daily. Their parents supervised the children during the use of mouthwash. At the end of 3 months, the children were assessed to the same clinical measurements.

Results:

Intragroup comparisons for both the GI and PI scores were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001) in both the groups. Intergroup comparisons between the two groups were not statistically significant. There was a significant difference in the effect of herbal and probiotic mouthwashes on plaque accumulation, gingival health status of these children.

Conclusion:

Herbal and probiotic mouthwashes can prove to be effective in reducing plaque and in improving the gingival status of children.

Keywords: Children, herbal, intellectual disability, mouthwashes, probiotic

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article:

Aarthy CS, Gadde S, Madankumar PD. Effectiveness of probiotic and herbal mouthwashes on gingival health among children with intellectual disability: An interventional study. Int J Community Dent 2021;9:129-33.