Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of a 40% miswak compared to a 0.12% chlorhexidine mouthwash. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 patients aged 20-55 years who attended the Periodontics Clinics at the College of Dentistry, Al-Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq, were allocated into 2 groups to use either 40% miswak mouthwash or 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate Kin Gingival (Laboratorios KIN) twice daily for 2 months. Gingival, bleeding, and plaque indices were assessed.
Results: There were statistically significant differences between the effectiveness of miswak and chlorhexidine
mouthwashes in terms of gingivitis. The means of gingival, bleeding, and plaque indices using miswak mouthwash were 1.2, 0.4, and 0.53, respectively, i.e. indicating lower effectiveness, than when 0.12% chlorhexidine mouthwash was used (0.87, 0.43, 0.23, respectively).
Conclusion: Miswak mouthwash is a good oral hygiene agent especially for long-term use even if its efficacy is
lower than chlorhexidine mouthwash.