The effect of triclosan, stannous fluoride and chlorhexidine products on: (II) Salivary bacterial counts

Abstract

A previous study demonstrated that triclosan and stannous fluoride containing oral hygiene products reduced plaque regrowth compared to saline but were not more effective than a conventional commercial fluoride/anionic detergent toothpaste. To further understand these results, this study measured the persistance of antimicrobial activity of the same products by recording the duration of salivary bacterial count reductions following a single exposure to each product. Comparison was also made with a chlorhexidine rinse as the positive control. From a panel of 16 volunteers, in an 8-cell randomised cross-over designed study, salivary bacterial counts were recorded at baseline and to 420 min. All test and control products were significantly more effective than saline and significantly less effective than chlorhexidine at suppressing bacterial counts. Unlike chlorhexidine, evidence of bacterial recovery was apparent after the 30-min sampling time. There were essentially no significant differences between the test and control products, although the stannous fluoride toothpaste performed marginally better than other products. The findings are consistent with the plaque regrowth results previously obtained and again demonstrate to date that it is difficult to surpass the antimicrobial and plaque inhibitory properties of conventional commercially available toothpastes by the addition of antimicrobial agents such as triclosan and metal salts.