The Effect of Oral Rinses Extracted from Japanese Tea on the Experimental Gingivitis in Man.

Abstract

Japanese green tea has long been known to have an anticarious action and a halitosis-preventing action. The active ingredient, catechin, has been reported to have antibacterial and antioxidant actions. Accordingly, we investigated the usefulness of green tea leaf ingredients as a chemical plaque control agent. The subjects were 45 male and female volunteers ranging from 15 to 25 years of age, in whom the Plaque Index and Gingival Index were controlled to zero before initiation of the study. The subjects were divided into two groups.In group I, the subjects were asked to rinse their oral cavities with a mouthwash containing 1.2% green tea extract (catechin) during the study period, and using a mouthwash produced by eliminating tea extracts alone from catechin.Subjects in group II rinsed their oral cavities with catechin during the study period, and distilled water during the control period. The subjects were not allowed to use a toothbrush or other cleaning devices during these periods. The following clinical parameters were measured 0, 3, 7 and 10 days after initiation of the study : 1) Plaque Index, 2) Gingival Index, 3) Gingival crevicular fluid level, 4) Bacterial flora, and 5) Halitosis. As a result, suppression of plaque increase, prevention of gingivitis and prevention of halitosis were noted after oral rinsing with the mouthwash containing tea leaf extracts.These findings indicate that Japanese green tea leaf ingredients are useful as a chemical plaque control agent.