Abstract :
Background: Mouthwashes are used routinely as adjunct to scaling and root planing. Chlorhexidine mouthwash is known as gold standard while Listerine is a widely used essential oil mouthwash. This study was done to evaluate and compare the genotoxic effect of Listerine with Chlorhexidine mouthwash on buccal cells.
Materials and Methods: It was a parallel design study with 20 participants in each group (Group 1: Chlorhexidine mouthwash and Group 2: Listerine mouthwash). Gingival index was recorded and buccal cells scraping were taken at baseline and 3 weeks after use of respective mouthwashes. The buccal cells were assessed for cytotoxicity using micronuclei test (under microscope at 100 x magnification) using Papanicolaou Stain.
Results: There was a statistically significant reduction seen in gingival index from baseline to 3 weeks in both the groups (p< 0>
Conclusion: After a 3 weeks exposure, Listerine mouthwash showed less cytotoxicity on buccal cells as compared to Chlorhexidine mouthwash.
Keyword :
Alcoholbased Mouthwash, Chlorhexidine, Cytotoxicity, Listerine, Mouthwash, Papanicolaou stains.