Title

Impact of periodontal mouthwashes on microbial load and periodontal indices during removable orthodontic treatment

Authors

Shraddha S. Gavade^1,*, Kiran Suradkar², Amrita Pritam³, Sangita Suradkar² & Naman Mittal⁴ & Sayali Mohile⁵

Affiliation

¹Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth Dental College and Hospital, Sangli, Maharashtra, India; ²Department of Dentistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth Dental College and Hospital, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; ³Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Oro Care and Orthodontic Centre, Patna, Bihar, India; ⁴Department of Orthodontics, MM College of Dental Sciences and Research, Mullana, Haryana, India; ⁵Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Swargiya Dadasaheb Kalmegh Smruti Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Shraddha S. Gavade - E-mail: shradhda.gavade@bharatividyapeeth.edu; Phone: +91 9623200439

Kiran Suradkar - E-mail: kiransuradkar24@gmail.com

Amrita Pritam - E-mail: dr.amritabindaas@gmail.com

Sangita Suradkar - E-mail: sangitasuradkar123@gmail.com

Naman Mittal - E-mail: naman.mittal1705@gmail.com

Sayali Mohile - E- mail: mohilesayali13@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received June 1, 2026; Revised June 30, 2026; Accepted June 30, 2026, Published June 30, 2026

Abstract

Removable orthodontic appliances may increase plaque accumulation and microbial load, yet the effectiveness of periodontal mouthwashes remains unclear. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate efficacy of periodontal mouthwashes on microbial load and periodontal indices in patients undergoing removable orthodontic therapy. Hence, eighty subjects were divided into groups receiving different mouthwashes, with assessment of plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI) and bleeding index (BI) at baseline and follow-up. Use of antimicrobial mouthwashes resulted in reduced microbial load and improvement in periodontal indices compared to baseline values. Thus, we support periodontal mouthwashes as effective adjuncts for maintaining oral hygiene during removable orthodontic treatment.

Keywords

Mouthwash, orthodontic appliances, microbial load, gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), chlorhexidine (CHX), periodontal health

Citation

Gavade et al. Bioinformation 22(6): 3319-3323 (2026)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.