Abstract Introduction: One of the foremost concerns that public health deals with is oral hygiene, especially in individuals with disability. People with disability are unable to rinse the mouth and follow the usual protocol for maintaining the oral hygiene due to manual dexterity. However, they require an alternative and feasible approach which facilitates compliance. Coconut oil pulling has proven to maintain the oral hygiene. The objective of the study was to investigate the efficacy of tooth brushing along with the application of coconut oil using foam swabs among the mentally challenged individuals. Materials and Method: 2 groups with 30 participants: The coconut oil swabbing group and the distilled water swabbing group. They were asked to perform swabbing with foam swabs with coconut oil and distilled water every day immediately after the conventional brushing. Plaque index and Streptococcus mutans count in plaque were recorded on day 0, 7, and 14. Intragroup and Intergroup results were analysed using the ANOVA test and unpaired t -test. Results: The overall plaque scores and the mean CFU of S. mutans showed highly significant decrease on 7 th and 14 th day in intervention group ( P < 0.001) compared to the control group. Conclusions: Tooth brushing along with the application of coconut oil using foam swabs showed a highly significant reduction of plaque scores. Hence, it could be practical and sustainable alternative to coconut oil pulling in children having lack of manual dexterity with minimal use of resources.
Shah et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: