Abstract
Objectives:
This clinical investigation examined the effects of brushing with a test toothpaste containing natural ingredients i.e., Clove (Syzgium Aromaticum), Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis), Amla (Emblica Officinalis), Neem (Azadirachta Indica), Tulsi (Ocimum Basillicum) and Honey (from Apis Mellifera) along with zinc salts and fluoride in comparison to a dentifrice formulated with fluoride alone on dental plaque and gingivitis over a 6-month period.
Materials & method:
One-hundred-eighty (180) subjects with mean plaque index scores greater than 1.5 (Turskey Modified Quigley Hein Plaque Index) and gingival index scores greater than 1.0 (Loe and Sillness gingival index) in good general health and who met other study criteria were enrolled in the clinical study. Subjects were evaluated for plaque, gingival index scores and were randomly assigned to perform twice daily oral hygiene with either the test or the control toothpaste for the next six months. One-hundred-fifty (150) subjects [test toothpaste (n=72) and control toothpaste (n=78)] completed the 6 month clinical study with evaluable data. Post treatment assessments identical to baseline were conducted after 3 months and 6 months use of assigned product after subjects refrained from oral hygiene for 12 hours prior to each evaluation. Comparisons of the treatment groups with respect to baseline-adjusted gingival, plaque and bleeding index scores at the follow-up examinations were performed using Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA). All statistical tests of hypotheses were two sided, and employed a level of significance of p<0.05.
Results:
No significant intergroup differences were noted between treatment groups for age and gender by two sample t-test and chi-square analyses respectively (p>0.05). Further the treatment groups demonstrated no differences at baseline for plaque, gingival and bleeding index scores by a two sample t test (p>0.05). At 3 month and 6 month examination, the test toothpaste exhibited progressive reductions in plaque, gingival and bleeding scores as compared to control toothpaste as showed by ANCOVA (p<0.001). In comparison to the control, the test demonstrated reductions of 23.5%, 25.6% and 73.3% for dental plaque, gingival index and bleeding index outcomes respectively at the final visit. Reductions in the frequencies of sites with higher clinical scores were noted over the study with more sites registering improvements in the test group than in the control.
Conclusions:
Routine oral hygiene with the test toothpaste formulated with herbal ingredients and zinc demonstrated a clinical adjunctive improvement in oral hygiene and parameters of gingival health as compared to brushing with a fluoride toothpaste.
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