Efficacy of Green and White Tea Extract Mouthwashes in the Management of Plaque-induced Gingivitis: A Clinical and Biochemical Study

Background and objective: Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world after water. Gingivitis is among the most common infectious diseases. In this clinical study, Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHX) was chosen as the positive control group and the clinical and biochemical efficacy of mouthwashes with green tea, white tea and essential oil (EO) as the active ingredients were aimed to be examined comprehensively. Methods: 112 participants with gingivitis were randomly assigned to 4 different groups that different mouthwashes were used for 4 weeks. CHX-MW group (0.12% CHX, as a positive control group), EO-MW group (Listerine), GT-MW group (5% Green tea), and WT-MW group (5% White tea). The effects of the mouthwashes on plaque, inflammation, and dental staining were evaluated by indexed scores at the beginning and the end of the 4th week. In addition, markers related to gingival inflammation (IL-1beta, MMP-8) and oxidative stress (TOS, TAS, OSI (TOS/TAS)) were evaluated on samples from the gingival crevicular fluid.