The effect of the dentifrice on gingivitis and dental plaque: A 6-week clinical study in India

Introduction: Dentifrices are commonly used for oral hygiene with some formulated with antimicrobial agents to control plaque. There is little information regarding the effects of dentifrices on controlling dental plaque and gingivitis amongst Indian subjects. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of three commercially-available fluoride dentifrices on established gingivitis and supragingival dental plaque after 6-week of product use. Materials and Methods: Adult subjects completing informed consent and presenting a Loe-Silness gingival index (GI) score ≥ 1.0 and a Quigley-Hein, Turesky Modification, plaque index (PI) score ≥ 1.5 completed a 2-week washout period with commercial fluoride toothpaste. They were instructed to refrain from all other oral hygiene products (including mints, chewing gums, mouth rinses). Subjects returned to the clinical facility again having refrained from all oral hygiene procedures for 12 h and from eating, drinking or smoking for 4 h for baseline gingivitis and plaque examinations. They were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups according to baseline gingival and plaque indices scores: (1) A dentifrice containing 0.3% triclosan and 1000 ppm sodium monofluorophosphate (Colgate ® Supershakti Dental Cream), (2) a dentifrice containing 0.54% zinc citrate, 0.64% stannous chloride and 0.33% sodium fluoride (Crest ® Pro-Health All Good 7 Effects Toothpaste), and (3) a dentifrice containing 1000 ppm sodium monofluorophosphate (Colgate ® CIBACA Toothpaste [negative control]). After 6-week use of their assigned dentifrice, all subjects were recalled for posttreatment plaque and GI examinations. Results: 105 subjects completed the study. Baseline plaque and GI scores demonstrated no statistical differences between treatment groups (P > 0.05). Further, Chi-square analysis demonstrated no significant differences between treatment groups for subject age or gender (P > 0.05). At the 6-week examinations, subjects in all three dentifrice groups exhibited statistically significant reductions in GI scores (32.5%, 16.6% and 19.9%, respectively) and PI (38.1%, 16.4% and 20.4%, respectively) scores from baseline (P < 0.05). The triclosan group exhibited statistically significant (P < 0.05) reductions in GI scores (17.5% and 12.5%, respectively) and PI scores (21.7% and 19.1%, respectively) when compared to the zinc citrate/stannous chloride dentifrice and to the sodium monofluorophosphate dentifrice. Conclusion: The triclosan/sodium monofluorophosphate dentifrice (Colgate Supershakti Dental Cream) demonstrated significantly less gingivitis and greater reductions of supragingival dental plaque (P < 0.05) when compared to a dentifrice containing zinc citrate/stannous chloride/sodium fluoride (Crest Pro-Health All Good 7 Effects Toothpaste) and to a dentifrice containing sodium monofluorophosphate (Colgate CIBACA Toothpaste).