Comparison of the effect of ginger and aloe vera mouthwashes on xerostomia in patients with type 2 diabetes: A clinical trial, triple-blind

BACKGROUND: Ginger and aloe vera are two medicinal herbs mostly used to produce mouthwash. This study aimed to compare the effects of ginger and aloe vera mouthwashes on the xerostomia in patients referred to Bandar Abbas diabetes clinic (Iran). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this triple-blind clinical trial, three groups (n=35 patients in each group) were studied. One group was given aloe vera mouthwash, the other group used ginger mouthwash, and the control group was only given normal saline. All the mouthwashes were used 20 ccs three times daily for 14 consecutive days. The symptoms and severity of xerostomia were measured before and after the intervention by the questionnaire proposed by Fox et al. as well as VAS scale, respectively. Statistical analysis, including the Shapiro-Wilk test used to measure the normality of variables, and Chi-square and McNemar used to compare the scores questionnaire proposed by Fox et al., were also applied. Scores of VAS were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA test. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant in all these tests. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants included in the normal saline group was 58.13±14.75 years old, 54.14±9.35 years old in the ginger group, and 53.37±11.57 years old in the aloe vera group. The difference between the scores of xerostomia before and after performing the intervention (The amount of reduction in xerostomia) in the ginger group was 6.12±2.004 cm, in the aloe vera group it was 4.08±2.09 cm, and in the normal saline group it was 2.45±2.09 cm. Finally, the ginger and aloe vera mouthwashes significantly reduced all symptoms and severity related to xerostomia, respectively(p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of mouthwash is an effective measure to reduce xerostomia under chronic conditions. Aloe vera, ginger, and normal saline are known as effective mouthwashes on controlling this complication. According to the results of this study, ginger and aloe vera mouthwashes could significantly decrease xerostomia and promote oral health in patients with diabetes. Key words:Aloe vera, diabetes mellitus, dry mouth, ginger, mouthwash, xerostomia.