Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effect of rhubarb on the treatment of gingivitis in orthodontic fixed treatment. Methods: The study sample included 20 periodontal healthy controls and 60 patients with gingivitis undergoing orthodontic fixed treatment for six months. Sixty patients with gingivitis were randomly divided into 3 groups: rhubarb group, gelatin sponge group and control group. Before treatment, clinical periodontal index and gingival cervical fluid (GCF) samples were taken from both the periodontal healthy control group and gingivitis groups. GCF interleukin IL- 1β was detected by ELISA. Data was compared among four groups. In the rhubarb group and the gelatin sponge group, rhubarb gelatin sponge and gelatin sponge were put respectively into the gingival pockets once a week and nothing for control group. After 4 weeks, all the parameters were reassessed. Results: Before treatment, clinical periodontal index and concentration of GCF IL - 1β of gingivitis groups were significantly higher than those of the periodontal health group (P<0.05), the rhubarb group and the gelatin sponge group had no significant difference when compared with the control group. After treatment, indices of the gelatin sponge group showed no significant difference compared to the control group, and was significantly higher than the periodontal health group (P<0.05). After treatment, indices of the gelatin sponge group and control group exhibited no significant difference when compared to the pre-treatment results (P<0.05).The indices of the rhubarb group were all significantly decreased after treatment (P<0.05), while compared with the periodontal health group, the rhubarb group gingival sulcus bleeding index ( SBI ) was close to normal (P<0.05). Conclusion: The use of rhubarb is effective in control of gingivitis in orthodontic fixed treatment.

Key words: Rhubarb, Orthodontic fixed treatment, Gingivitis IL-1β