Clinical effectiveness of essential oil-containing dentifrices in controlling oral malodor.

PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of two essential oil-containing dentifrices in the reduction of human intrinsic oral malodor ("morning bad breath"). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two clinical trials were conducted which used observer-blind, negative control, parallel designs. To insure a homogeneous test population with similar oral odor characteristics, subjects followed instructions that included toothbrushing with a standard ADA-accepted fluoride dentifrice the night before. On odor evaluation days, subjects refrained from all oral hygiene procedures and from eating or drinking any food or beverage or smoking prior to and during the odor evaluations. Eighty healthy adult subjects in the first trial and 90 in the second trial with qualifying baseline levels of oral malodor participated. Odor ratings of each subject's breath were made by 4-5 trained judges using a nine point hedonic scale, i.e., 1 = most pleasant, 5 = neutral, 9 = most unpleasant. Qualifying subjects were randomly assigned one of two essential oil dentifrices or a negative control dentifrice. Subjects brushed with their assigned dentifrice for 60 s, rinsed with 20 ml of water for 10 s, and received post-treatment hedonic odor ratings at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 min. Data were analyzed using an ANCOVA to adjust for baseline scores. RESULTS: The essential oil dentifrices were significantly more effective (P < or = 0.033) than the control in reducing intrinsic oral malodor from 90 to 120 min.

A model for clinical evaluation of anti-microbial effects of agents on plaque colonization.

PURPOSE: To evaluate a new improved method of microbial analysis in a cross-over clinical study by investigating the efficacy of a single application of an essential oil-containing (EOC) dentifrice as compared to its vehicle control (VC) over a 6-hr period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Acrylic stents with retention areas for 7, 3 mm x 3 mm hydroxyapatite (HA) squares were fabricated for 12 subjects. 30 min following stent placement, one HA square was removed and sampled for viable microflora. After stent replacement, subjects were assigned either the EOC dentifrice or its VC and brushed under supervision for 1 min. Stents remained in place for the next 6 hrs. A HA square was removed at hourly intervals for 6 hrs following brushing. The microflora was analyzed for total anaerobes on Schaedler's media, for total gram-negative anaerobes on Schaedler-NV selective media, and for total Fusobacterium species on CVE selective media. Plates were incubated anaerobically at 37 degrees C for 2-5 days. Colony forming units were calculated. For each time point, pairwise t-tests were performed using the adjusted means and the pooled error term from the analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Treatment with the EOC dentifrice resulted in a statistically reduced plaque growth. Differences were seen as reductions in: (1) total gram-negative anaerobes seen from 1-6 hrs (P < or = 0.011), (2) total anaerobic bacteria which achieved significance at 3 hrs and continued through 6 hrs (P < or = 0.005), and (3) Fusobacterium species as seen from 4-6 hrs (P < or = 0.002).

Reducing bacteria in dental aerosols: pre-procedural use of an antiseptic mouthrinse.

This study, using a simulated office visit model, showed that the pre-procedural use of an antimicrobial mouthrinse produces a significant reduction in number of viable bacteria in a dental aerosol.

A modified Kapur scale for evaluating denture retention and stability: methodology study.

This study described a modification of a standard method for evaluating the retention and stability of complete denture prostheses. The upper ranges of the Kapur Scale for retention and stability were expanded to improve the sensitivity of this procedure. The standard and modified Kapur scales were also compared with a model using two denture adhesives that have demonstrated varying efficacies when evaluated by more refined laboratory instrumentation. This study verified that the modified Kapur scale was more capable of discriminating the effectiveness between the two denture adhesives, confirming the elevated sensitivity of the modified scale. This improvement of the Kapur scale could be valuable in conducting clinical efficacy trials of denture adhesives when more advanced methodologies present logistic problems.

Comparison of the antimicrobial capability of an abrasive paste and chemical-soak denture cleaners.

The objective of this research was to compare the ability of the two most popular methods for denture cleaning to remove plaque microorganisms from dentures. Dentu-Creme abrasive denture paste and Efferdent alkaline peroxide denture-cleanser soak were selected for study. Two trials were completed in which these materials were used alone and in combination along with a no-treatment control to determine the level of recoverable plaque bacteria from removable dentures. Plaque was allowed to accumulate for 48 or 72 hours in individuals with healthy oral mucosa during which time they refrained from all denture hygiene procedures. The results of two studies following similar double-blind cross-over designs were consistent in that soaking with the denture cleanser caused a significantly greater reduction of microorganisms than did brushing with the denture paste. Further, combining brushing with the soak did not reduce the level of recoverable microorganisms significantly more than soaking alone. Overall, brushing alone did not consistently remove more microorganisms than were observed in the no-treatment group. The denture-cleanser soak displayed broad antimicrobial activity against gram-negative anaerobic rods (Fusobacterium sp.), gram-positive facultative cocci (streptococci), and gram-negative anaerobic cocci (Veillonella sp.), as well as total recoverable microorganisms, which were all equally reduced by the denture-cleanser treatment. These results support the need for use of a denture cleanser in addition to brushing with a denture paste for proper denture hygiene.