Comparative antimicrobial activity of an essential oil and an amine fluoride stannous fluoride mouthrinse in vitro

Although laboratory studies are not necessarily predictive of clinical acti vity, they can help to elucidate mechanisms underlying clinical activity wh en the latter has been established. In a recent clinical study, an essentia l oil mouthrinse (Listerine(R) Antiseptic) was shown to be significantly mo re effective than an amine fluoride/stannous fluoride mouthrinse (Meridol(R )) in inhibiting supragingival plaque formation. This paper reports the res ults of laboratory studies comparing the antimicrobial effectiveness of the se 2 mouthrinses using a kill kinetics assay and a plaque biofilm kill assa y In both assays, the essential oil mouthrinse was considerably more effect ive than the amine fluoride/stannous fluoride mouthrinse. These findings ar e consistent with the results of the clinical trial and may help to explain the observed differences in clinical activity.