THE EFFECT OF A DENTIFRICE CONTAINING CHLORHEXIDINE AND ZINC ON PLAQUE, GINGIVITIS, CALCULUS AND TOOTH STAINING

In this 6 months randomized, stratified double-blind parallel study, p laque, gingivitis, calculus formation and tooth staining were assessed in 208 participants. The participants either used a 0.12% chlorhexidi ne rinse and a gum care dentifrice (positive control) or a placebo rin se and the gum care dentifrice (control) or the placebo rinse and an e xperimental dentifrice containing 0.4% chlorhexidine and 0.34% Zn2+ (e xperimental group). After 6 months product use, all groups had less pl aque, less gingivitis and all developed calculus and tooth staining. F or the positive control group and for the experimental group, signific ant reductions in plaque and gingivitis (gingival index and number of bleeding sites) were seen compared with the control group. Significant ly more calculus developed in the positive control group, while the ex perimental group was not different from the control group. Finally, to oth staining was significantly higher for the groups using chlorhexidi ne containing products compared with the control group. The experiment al dentifrice users however did develop significantly less staining co mpared with the positive control. It is concluded that the experimenta l dentifrice will contribute to a significant improvement in oral hygi ene with less staining compared with using a 0.12% chlorhexidine rinse .