The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of 0.1% curcumin mouthwash and to compare it with phenolic mouthwash for its effect on gingival inflammation. Thirty subjects, aged between 30 and 55 years of age were recruited and randomly divided into two groups. In Group A, 15 subjects were advised curcumin mouthwash, while Group B subjects used phenolic mouth wash. The subjects were advised to use 10 ml of mouthwash for 30 seconds twice a day 30 min after brushing. Parameters were recorded for Gingival and Sulcus Bleeding Indices at baseline, 7th and 14th days along with subjective assessment. The intergroup comparison of the clinical parameters revealed curcumin and phenolic mouthwash showed statistically significant results with P < 0.001. Hence it can be concluded that curcumin can be effectively used as an adjunct to scaling and root planning.