Anti-inflammatory effect of salt water and chlorhexidine 0.12% mouthrinse after periodontal surgery: a randomized prospective clinical study

Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare the anti-inflammatory efficacy of sodium chloride- and a 0.12% chlorhexidine mouth rinses in patients undergoing minimal invasive periodontal surgery. Materials and methods Forty-seven patients with a diagnosis of periodontitis and indication for access flap procedure were randomly selected. Group A: a sodium chloride (salt)water-based mouth rinse (test group) or group B: a 0.12% chlorhexidine mouth rinse (control group) administered after surgery. Gingival Index (GI) were evaluated in the whole mouth and in the surgical site at baseline (T1), a week later (T2), and 12 weeks (T3) after the treatment. Total MMP activity was measured in GCF using a commercial kit and plate reader. Medians of total MMP activity and GI were compared for time intervals T1 vs. T2, T1 vs. T3, and T2 vs T3 using Friedman tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests, and were also compared between test and control using Mann-WhitneyU tests at each timepoint. Results The average GI values showed significant differences between baseline and T2 (p = 0.0005) and baseline and T3 (p = 0.003) in the test group. Conclusion The sodium chloride-mouth rinse use after periodontal surgery seems to have similar anti-inflammatory properties as CHX mouth rinse and can be used regularly postoperatively after periodontal surgical procedures.