Antimicrobial effectiveness of chlorhexidine chewing gums on Streptococcus mutans counts--an in vivo microbiological...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of Chlorhexidine chewing gums and to assess the effect of dosage and frequency of intake of Chlorhexidine gums on Streptococcus mutans (SM) count.

The sample consisted of 30 subjects, divided into two groups AI & AII. Each group consisted of 15 subjects. Group AI chewed 2 Chlorhexidine Chewing gum X Twice Daily for 20 minutes (Total = 4 gums Daily) & Group AII chewed 2 Chlorhexidine Chewing gum X Four times daily for 20 minutes (Total = 8 gums Daily) & saliva sample was collected & agar plates were inoculated for SM colony count. The study was carried for a week's time and salivary sample collected were Baseline, Day 1 morning and evening, Day 4 evening, Day7 morning and evening.

After the gum was chewed, it was observed that the colony count started to decrease when compared with baseline in both the groups. The fall in SM count was statistically highly significant with p < 0.001 in both the groups. When comparing between Group AI (Dosage 20 mg daily) and Group All (Dosage 40 mg daily), the fall in SM count for both the groups was not statistically significant with p-value > 0.05. It was concluded that there was reduction in the level of Salivary SM, but was not statistically significant, by increasing the dosage and frequency of intake of Chlorhexidine containing gums.

We recommend that dosage of Chlorhexidine containing chewing gums can be restricted to four gums instead of eight gums per day.