Effectiveness of mouthrinses and oral prophylaxis on reduction of microorganisms count in irreversible hydrocolloid impression: an in vivo study.

Dental impressions, contaminated with saliva, blood, plaque, are potential source of infection. All impressions should be disinfected after their removal from mouth to prevent cross contamination. Different methods have been tried to disinfect the commonly used irreversible hydrocolloid impression material, but they have been shown to influence the dimensional stability and surface detail of the impression which ultimately affects the precision of the final prosthesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pre-procedural oral prophylaxis and mouthrinses in reducing the overall microbial load intraorally as well as on alginate impression surface. A total of 60 positive cases selected from 100 subjects who were partially edentulous and above 18 years of age and without medical or pharmacotherapy histories were studied over a period of 18 months, from outpatient clinic of Department of Prosthodontics, GNIDSR. Alginate impressions, before and after prophylaxis were examined microbiologically for the persistence of test microorganisms on the untreated (control group) and the impressions made after treatment. The data were statistically analyzed by the Student t test to assess the effectiveness of the procedure and also the comparative effectiveness of oral prophylaxis and commonly used mouthrinses. The results showed that the impressions were safer when made after oral prophylaxis and/or mouthrinses.