Assessment of efficacy of two chlorhexidine mouthrinses on oral hygiene and gingival health in adolescents wearing two types of orthodontic brackets.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of two formulations of chlorhexidine 0.2% (CHX) mouthrinses in terms of oral hygiene and gingival health status in adolescents with fixed orthodontic appliances wearing two different types of brackets during 18 weeks. STUDY POPULATION AND METHODOLOGY: Eighty subjects were randomly divided into two equal groups according to brackets type: (i) metal-stainless steel, (ii) ceramic. Four weeks after the placement of the fixed orthodontic appliances the subjects from each group were randomly allocated into two equal subgroups and were provided with two different mouthrinses for 14 days: (i) alcohol-free CHX, (ii) CHX with antidiscoloration system (CHX-ADS). Assessment was carried out according to gingival index (GI) and oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S) performed prior to the placement of the appliance (t(1) ), 6 weeks (t(2) ), and 18 weeks (t(3) ) after the placement. To analyse the data, two-way mixed model MANOVA. Pearson correlations, one-way ANOVA and Independent Samples t test were conducted. RESULTS: Statistically significant decrease in GI and OHI-S indices after 6 weeks and then increase after 18 weeks for all groups was found. Both GI and OHI-S values were lower in subjects wearing ceramic brackets, with statistically significant difference for GI after the usage of the mouthrinse for 14 days, at t(2) (P<.05). CONCLUSION: The results revealed that the ceramic brackets as well as usage of CHX-ADS resulted in improved gingival status.