Periodontal diseases are ubiquitous, affecting all dentate animals. Regular methods for controlling it have been found to be ineffective, which have paved the way for the use of herbal products as an adjunctive to mechanical therapy as they are free to untoward effects and hence can be used for a long period of time. Ocimum sanctum is a plant which has the greater medicinal value and enormous properties for curing and preventing disease.
In the present study we assessed the effectiveness of Ocimum sanctum on dental plaque, gingival inflammation and comparison with gold standard chlorhexidine and normal saline (placebo).
A triple blind randomized control trial was conducted among volunteered medical students. They were randomly allocated into three study groups: (1) Ocimum sanctum mouthwash ( n = 36); (2) Chlorhexidine (active control) ( n = 36); (3) normal saline (negative control) ( n = 36). Assessment was carried out according to plaque score and gingival score. Statistical analysis was carried out later to compare the effect of both mouthwash. ANOVA (Analysis of variance) and post-hoc LSD tests were performed using software package used for statistical analysis (SPSS) version 17. P ≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant.