The studies in this systematic review provide strong evidence of the antiplaque , antigingivitis effects of multiple agents .
BACKGROUND AND METHODS The author conducted a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the efficacy of  antigingivitis and antiplaque products  in six-month trials .
Comparative antiplaque and antigingivitis effectiveness of a chlorhexidine and an essential oil mouthrinse: 6-month clinical trial.
OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to compare the antiplaque and antigingivitis effectiveness and the side-effect profiles of an essential oil-containing mouthrinse and a chlorhexidine-containing mouthrinse . MATERIAL AND METHODS One hundred and eight qualifying subjects , aged 20 - 57 years , were r and omized into three groups : essential oil mouthrinse ( ListerineAntiseptic ) ; 0.12 % chlorhexidine mouthrinse ( Peridex ) ; or 5 % hydroalcohol negative control . At baseline , subjects received a complete oral soft tissue examination and scoring of the Loe-Silness gingival index ( GI ) , Quigley-Hein plaque index ( PI ) , Volpe-Manhold calculus index ( CI ) , and Lobene extrinsic tooth stain index ( SI ) . Following a complete dental prophylaxis , subjects started rinsing twice daily with their respective mouthrinse as an adjunct to their usual mechanical oral hygiene procedures . One of the rinses on each weekday was supervised . Subjects were reexamined at 3 and 6 months . The treatment groups were compared with respect to baseline demographic and clinical variables . The primary efficacy variables were GI and PI . Intergroup differences for all clinical variables were tested at 3 and 6 months using appropriate statistical procedures . RESULTS All of the 108 r and omized subjects were evaluable at 3 months , and 107 subjects were evaluable at 6 months . There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups at baseline , with the exception that the control group PI was significantly lower than that of the essential oil group ( p<0.05 ) and the chlorhexidine group ( p<0.001 ) , and the essential oil mouthrinse group had a significantly greater number of subjects than the control group with body region SI scores > or = 1.0 ( p=0.021 ) . At 6 months , the essential oil and chlorhexidine mouthrinses produced statistically significant ( p<0.001 ) GI reductions of 14.0 % and 18.2 % , respectively , and statistically significant ( p<0.001 ) PI reductions of 18.8 % and 21.6 % , respectively , compared with the control and were not statistically significantly different from each other with respect to plaque and gingivitis reduction . The chlorhexidine mouthrinse group had significantly more calculus and extrinsic tooth stain than either the essential oil mouthrinse group or the control group . CONCLUSION This 6-month controlled clinical study demonstrated that the essential oil mouthrinse and the chlorhexidine mouthrinse had comparable antiplaque and antigingivitis activity . Insofar as side effects associated with the chlorhexidine mouthrinse may limit patient compliance , it is suggested that each product can have a distinct role in the management of patients with periodontal diseases
The studies in this systematic review provide strong evidence of the antiplaque , antigingivitis effects of multiple agents .
BACKGROUND AND METHODS The author conducted a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the efficacy of  antigingivitis and antiplaque products  in six-month trials .