[Plak-out and Broxojet 3007. Clinical study].

It is known that chlorhexidine, a plaque preventing agent, can cause discolorations and other side effects when used in mouthwashes at the concentration of 0.1% or more. By diluting the amount of chlorhexidine used in a mouthwash in the much greater volume of water used in a pulsating device, one could try to avoid these side-effects and, possible keep the antiplaque properties of chlorhexidine. Furthermore, it was interesting to check whether plaque, which is normally not removed by the mechanical action of a pulsating device, could be removed when the water of the device contains chlorhexidine. In the first part of the study, the effectiveness of chlorhexidine given by mouthwash (10 ml at 0.1%) has been compared to that of the same amount of chlorhexidine diluted in 400 ml of water of a pulsating device (conc. 0.0025%). The average gingival index of inflammation and plaque index, as well as the amount of gingival fluid have been measured, by previously standardized procedures, in a group of 18 students with healthy gingivae before and after a 7-days period of no-brushing. One third of the students used chlorhexidine solution in daily mouthwashes, one third used chlorhexidine in the Broxojet and the last 6 students used Broxojet with a placebo. The part of the study concerning the Broxojet was carried out in double blind. At the concentration of 0.1% in mouthwashes, chlorhexidine was found, as expected, to inhibit plaque formation. The same amount of drug diluted in the liquid of a pulsating device was, on the contrary, much less effective. Staining was noticed in most of the volunteers. The second part of the study was similarly designed and performed in the aim of checking whether higher amounts of chlorhexidine were effective in preventing plaque when used in the Broxojet: in the pulsating device, chlorhexidine was found to be effective only at the concentrations of 0.025%.