Mouthwashes in oral health - new opportunities

Mouthwashes are a successful additional oral hygiene product that is easy to use and provides access of active ingredients to hard-to-reach areas in the oral cavity. Different types of active ingredients can be offered and combined in mouthwashes.

In thе presentation is introduced a study involving 180 patients divided into 6 groups of 30 patients, each group being rinsed with one of the following mouthwashes based on - essential oils, a combination of essential oils and 0.12% chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide (0.8%), prebiotic, 0.2% chlorhexidine and placebo. All participants underwent professional mechanical removal of the plaque, after which they were instructed to rinse with 15 ml of mouthwash 2 times a day for 21 days. During the study period, patients were monitored on days 0, 14 and 21, examining the oral hygiene index, gingival index, bleeding index and the presence of side effects.
Results: The gingival index, the bleeding index and the oral hygiene index decreased statistically significantly in all treated groups. The additional use of mouthwash revealed better clinical efficacy compared to mechanical plaque control alone (placebo mouthwash). The gingival index and plaque index decreased most significantly in the group that used mouthwash with hydrogen peroxide. The reduction in the bleeding index was most significant in the 0.2% chlorhexidine group. Prebiotic-based mouthwashes, as well as the combination of essential oils and chlorhexidine, showed promising results for all indexes studied.

Conclusions: All tested mouthwashes demonstrated significant clinical efficacy in the treatment of gingivitis compared to performing only professional mechanical plaque removal.

Dr. Blagovesta Yaneva, PhD

Assoc. Prof. Blagovesta Yaneva graduated as a dentist at the Medical University - Plovdiv in 2010 and defended her doctoral dissertation "Applica tion of Er: YAG laser in the treatment of moderate chronic periodontitis" in 2014. In 2018 she acquired the specialty "Periodontology and oral mucosa diseases" at MU-Plovdiv. Since 2010 Dr. Yaneva worked with dental lasers in her private practice.

Blagovesta Yaneva is an A ssociate Professor at the Department of Periodontology a nd Oral mucosa diseases at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, MU-Plovdiv, and part of the team of the Laser Center at the Research Institute at the Medical University of Plovdiv. She is an active member of the Bulgarian Society of Periodontology, the German Society of Periodontology, the Bulgarian Dental Laser Society, and ISLD.

Dr. Yaneva has presented her scientific work with more than 20 presentations, in Bulgaria, Japan, Belgium, France, Spain, Macedonia, China and has more than 20 publications about periodontal diseases and their treatment modalities