0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash with an antidiscoloration system versus 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash: a prospective clinical comparative study.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study is to evaluate the degree of staining and clinical efficacy of a chlorhexidine mouthwash with an antidiscoloration system (ADS) versus 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash (traditional). Secondary objectives are to evaluate the patient "compliance" factor according to patterns assigned by the clinician and to observe the side effects of the two mouthwashes.

METHODS: This comparative study is carried out on a sample of 15 non-smoking patients with chronic periodontitis at the Department of Periodontology, the International University of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. All patients used either 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash (control group = bottle B) or chlorhexidine with ADS (test group = bottle A) for 15 days. Each patient first rinsed with a randomly assigned mouthwash for 15 days followed by a 15-day washout period. Subsequently, each patient used a second mouthwash. Before each cycle, a full dental prophylaxis was performed. The plaque, gingival, and Brecx staining indexes were used.

RESULTS: The results showed less tooth staining with the test group (P <0.01). No statistically significant differences were observed in plaque (P = 0.1496) and gingival indexes (P = 0.1688). Eighty-eight percent of patients followed the instructions outlined in the protocol. In terms of other adverse effects, two patients reported a bad taste with both mouthwashes.

CONCLUSIONS: The test group with ADS had less staining than the control group during a usage period of 15 days. However, the two mouthwashes seemed to be equally effective as antiplaque and antigingivitis agents.