Efficacy of 0.2% tempered chlorhexidine as a subgingival irrigant in chronic periodontitis: A randomized control trial

Introduction: Chlorhexidine (0.2%) has been considered to be clinic effective against supragingival plaque formation. It is considered as a gold standard for chemical plaque control and can reduce plaque scores effectively at different temperature, concentration and pH. Aim: To investigate the efficacy of tempered chlorhexidine over conventional 0.2% chlorhexidine as a subgingival irrigant in reduction of periodontal parameters and bacterial count. Materials and Methods: A randomized control clinical trial as conducted at I.T.S dental college, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, India in which 20 systemically healthy patient's sites having chronic periodontitis with pocket depth of 4-6 mm were included. Group I(test group)- ultrasonic scaling and root planning followed by tempered 0.2% chlorhexidine irrigation (maintained at 47 degree centigrade) for 20 secs at 10 sites and Group II (control group)- ultrasonic scaling root planning followed by 0.2% chlorhexidine irrigation for 20 secs at 10 sites. Plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD) were recorded and plaque samples was taken for the count of colony forming units (CFU) on blood agar at baseline and after 21 days. The statistical analysis was done by indepentent t-test. Result: The results showed that CFU& PI in group I were significantly reduced when compared to group I with, p<0> Conclusion: Tempered chlorhexidine is a better alternative as an anti-plaque subgingival irrigant and can be preferred over cold chlorhexidine at 0.2% concentration.