Nidhal A Ali1, Maha J Abbas1, Fouad H AL-Bayaty2
1Faculty of Dentistry, Al Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq; 2Centre of the studies for Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia.For correspondence:- Fouad H AL-Bayaty Email:
Received: 18 June 2014 Accepted: 15 February 2015 Published: 26 April 2015
Citation: Ali N, Abbas M, AL-Bayaty F. Evaluation of potential effect of menthol solution on oral hygiene status of dental students in a university in Iraq. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(4):687-692 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i4.18
© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..
Purpose: To test the effect of menthol extract on the oral hygiene status of dental students of Faculty of Dentistry, Al- Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq.
Methods: A solution (18 mg %) of menthol was prepared by dissolving menthol crystals in absolute ethanol. Chlorhexidine (CHX, 0.2 %) and deionized water were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. Menthol was examined for its toxic effect. Twenty male albino mice were injected intraperitoneally with a low (10 mg/ml) and high dose (50 mg/ml) of the menthol solution, and acute toxicity (LD50) calculated. A double-blind crossover was designed to test plaque re-growth over 5 days. Thirty male dental student volunteers were asked to cease tooth cleaning and then rinse with 10 ml of menthol solution three times daily for 1.5 min, twice daily with CHX and deionized water. Plaque, gingival and bleeding scores were recorded on days 0 and 5. A washout period of 2 weeks was allowed, and then a new test was initiated. The data obtained were analysed statistically.
Results: Menthol mouthwash demonstrates a significant reduction in plaque, gingival and bleeding indices of 0.56, 0.45 and 0.03, respectively. CHX induced a greater reduction in these parameters than menthol with indices of 0.14, 0.26, and 0.04, respectively.
Conclusion: Menthol mouth rinse (0.018 %) is an antiplaque and anti-gingivitis agent, though less effective than CHX.
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