Efficacy of Tongue Brushing and Mouth Rinsing as Adjuvants to Tooth Brushing in Children

• Main Authors: Reena Sharma, Ullal Anand Nayak, Prathibha Anand Nayak, Saakshe Wadhwa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2019-03-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: chlorhexidine; hiora; streptococcus mutans; xylitol
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/12672/39990_CE[Ra1]_F(AC)_PF1(SJ_SHU)_PN(SL).pdf

Introduction: High prevalence of dental caries in children has led to search simple and easy adjunctive preventive strategies of caries prevention. A plethora of products claim success in reducing cariogenic bacteria there by increasing the available choice for clinician. Aim: The study comparatively evaluated the adjunctive effect of tongue brushing and mouth rinsing in addition to regular tooth brushing on salivary Mutans Streptococci (MS) Colony Forming Units (CFU). Materials and Methods: A total of 48 selected children were randomly assigned to four mouthwash groups: distilled water, chlorhexidine gluconate, HiOra and xylitol. The phase I salivary MS CFU levels were determined at baseline (after oral prophylaxis) and after one week use of mouthwashes. After one-week washout period, the children again underwent oral prophylaxis and second baseline salivary MS CFU levels were estimated. The phase II evaluation (addition of tongue brushing) was carried out for one week, after which the salivary MS CFU levels were again recorded. Paired t-test or Dependent sample t-test was used for intragroup comparison. The intergroup comparison of salivary mutans streptococci was done by Unpaired t-test of Independent sample t-test and then ANOVA followed by Post-hoc Bonferroni test. Results: Inclusion of tongue brushing significantly reduced the salivary MS CFU’s only in the control group (p=0.009) but not in experimental mouthwash groups. Conclusion: Mouth rinsing alone is effective in reducing the salivary MS CFU’s. Performing tongue brushing in addition to mouth rinsing does not significantly reduce MS levels in saliva.