The effect of an antiseptic mouthrinse on implant maintenance: plaque and peri-implant gingival tissues.

The purpose of this controlled double-blind, parallel, randomized clinical study was to determine the effect of antiseptic mouthrinse on parameters important to dental implant maintenance. Plaque, peri-implant gingivitis, gingival bleeding, probing depth, and attachment level were assessed over a 3-month test period. Twenty healthy adult patients each of whom had at least two dental implants, a modified gingival index > 1.5, and a modified Quigley-Hein plaque index score > 1.7 were enrolled into the study. After a thorough oral prophylaxis, patients were randomly assigned to either the antiseptic mouthrinse or a 5% hydroalcohol placebo mouthrinse group and instructed to rinse twice daily for 30 seconds with 20 ml of their assigned mouthrinse as an adjunct to their usual oral hygiene procedures. The baseline examination included plaque index, gingival index, bleeding index, probing depth measurement, and attachment level measurements. The plaque and gingival indices were rescored at 1, 2, and 3 months. Probing depths, attachment levels, and bleeding index were determined again at 3 months only. At the end of 3 months, the antiseptic mouthrinse group had statistically significant reductions in plaque index, gingival index, and bleeding index compared to the placebo group. There were no significant differences between groups in probing depth or attachment level. The results of this clinical study indicate that twice daily use of an antiseptic mouthrinse may provide benefits in the maintenance of dental implants.