[Studies on oral hygiene and periodontal prophylaxis in patients with jaw fractures]

Oral hygiene experiments with H2O2 and chlorhexidine rinsing were performed in 15 patients with dental splints for jaw fractures and intermaxillary wiring. To measure the various cleaning measures, Löe's plaque index (1967) was determined at the 7th, 21st, and 35th postoperative days. The 2% chlorhexidine gluconate was always by far superior to H2O2 as far as plaque inhibition was concerned. With chlorhexidine plaque reduction up to 69% and H202 reductions up to 22% were observed. After a test period of about 5 weeks, only slight side-effects were recorded, such as discolorations at the lingual side of the teeth and in few cases bad taste or dark coating of the tongue.