Background/aims: This clinical trial aimed at comparing 2 different means of delivering chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) in the oral hygiene phase during the 2 weeks following periodontal surgery.
Method: 40 patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: A (using CHX mouthwash) and B (using CHX spray). Professional oral hygiene was carried out immediately before surgical operation. For 7 days after surgery, group A used CHX mouthwash and group B CHX spray on the teeth involved in the surgical procedure, while mechanical oral hygiene was maintained only on the teeth not involved surgically. After suture removal, on the 7th day, patients were allowed to perform mechanical oral hygiene also on surgical sites. Plaque index (PI) and stain index (SI) were evaluated on the 7th and 14th days after the operation.
Results: In both groups, PI increased similarly with respect to the baseline in surgically involved teeth, being 0.25+/-0.41 (SD) and 0.15+/-0.26, respectively, in A and B, on day 7, and 0.14+/-0.23 (A) and 0.10+/-0.22 (B), on day 14. There was no significant difference between A and B on either day 7 or 14. On the contrary, SI increased significantly in respect to the baseline over the 14 days in group A at both involved and not involved sites, while it did not differ from the baseline in group B.
Conclusions: The present results indicate that the efficacy of CHX spray in the post-surgical control of dental plaque is not different from that of CHX mouthwash. Tooth staining, on the contrary, was significantly lower in the group using CHX spray. The observed effects might be related to the way of delivering CHX and to the total dose administered, about 80% lower in group B in respect to A. Further studies are needed to validate the preliminary findings of the present study.